So many times young kids can bring tears to my eyes — not because they are doing something naughty but because they’re doing something nice (and often unexpected). This past week, I had two wet-eyed happenings.
On Monday, as I was getting out of my car in the grocery store parking lot, a lady who was carrying two bags of groceries lost her balance and, as she gained it back, one bag of groceries spilled across the lot. A boy who looked like he was 8 or 9 and was walking to the store with his mom ran over to the lady and began picking up and rebagging the cans and items that had scattered.
When he had everything done, the woman wanted to reward him, but he shook his head no, then saluted her and ran to his mom, who bent down, gave him a hug, and off they went.
The other sniffler was last Sunday at the Special Olympics basketball tourney held at DePauw University. When one of our teams missed being on the medal-receiving end, and Lindsey looked at her fourth-place ribbon, she looked at me sadly and said, “I thought I was supposed to get a medal.”
One of the players from the other team overheard her, and turned around to her and told her, “You can have my medal. I have more at home.” I told her that was a nice gesture but Lindsey would have to earn a medal. So she just gave Lindsey a hug and told her she’d played great.
I think hugs are a wonderful blessing, don’t you? Then when I picked up the paper and saw a 6-year-old boy getting his head shaved to help raise money for the yearly St. Baldrick’s (Crown Point) event for pediatric cancer research, I realized again that the good still far outweighs the bad in our neighborhoods, and maybe we should concentrate on the good that happens more.
In honor of Disability Awareness Month — and especially honoring all children with disabilities, whether it’s Down syndrome, autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or any other developmental disability — Chasing Dreams is hosting its Dream Run this Saturday at Woodland Park, 2100 Willowcreek Road, in Portage to provide support for families and open doors for children with disabilities.
The 5k Run begins at 8 a.m. with the Family Fun Walk at 9:30 a.m. followed by the Kid Dash at 11 a.m. Join the celebration and learn what the passage “and a little child shall lead them” means. To participate in the run/walk, go to http://www.chasingdreams.org. And when you’re leaving Woodland Park, drive over to Wheeler High School and cheer for the Special Olympics teams vying for a chance to compete in the state meet next weekend at Indiana State University. Hooray, your weekend is planned.
Next week most of our area schools are on spring break, so keep your fingers crossed that the weather we had on Monday returns soon. And it’s another time to be extra aware of youngsters running here and there, and not always paying attention to vehicles coming down the street as they run to chase a ball or join a friend, or even driving and chatting instead of concentrating. It’s up to us to keep our eyes and brains on the road so no tragedy becomes part of our lives. Then I hope you have a great day because you deserve it. Thanks for reading. Fly your flag.
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Lorrie Woycik is a freelance columnist. Reach her at [email protected].