This Guy

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I find it so funny that my role as a parent is to guide my children through life in the ways of right and wrong. I mean, I get it... that is important. The comedy for me just tends to lie in the fact that for so much of the time, they are my greatest teachers in ways of morality.

And this guy. Well, he is nothing short of amazing.


































But, if you know him at all... then you already knew that.

His heart is the purest form of love I have ever known all wrapped up in that chalked-up, dirt-stained, fattest- feet-on-the-planet exterior of a little boy. Sometimes I think of it as a little secret present waiting for anyone willing to sift through all those moments that challenge your tactile aversions just to be near him. Just when I didn't think it was possible to be any more blown away by his loving heart, he gets me good. Quite possibly, my favorite form of spontaneity to date.

Today, during an ever exciting* (insert: dreadfully boring) tag-a-long ride for Mommy's never-ending errands, sitting at a stoplight, completely zoned and greatly missing my left behind coffee, I am awakened to reality by a small voice from the back sounding out: H-U-N-N-N-G-R-Y. (so smart.) Quickly followed by a completely dead-on "Hungry. Mommy, why does that sign say hungry?". To which I flatly replied, "Well, Gabriel, I guess because that man is hungry." Before I even realize what is happening, I hear his little window start to roll down, and look back just to hear him say,

"Well, he can have my snack."

So simple. So loving. So beautiful.

So not from me. Believe me, I'd love to take credit for that. Instead, between instantly welled-up eyelids, a heart bursting with pride for my child, I feel the slow sweep of sadness. What has happened to this world that we no longer give to someone in need for nothing more the selfless act of loving? Why can't it just be as simple as: I don't need this and you really do. So have it.

Instead, it all gets melted into: "This is mine. I earned this. Why can't you earn it too and so on." It's ugly and I am so ashamed to have fallen into that mindset in some shape or form too.

To live in a world that loved you like a Gabriel does would be such a beautiful place to live.