Take time to appreciate what you

On the last day before Christmas, I hurried to go to
the supermarket to buy the remaining of the gift I didn't
manage to buy earlier.
When I saw all the people there, I started to
complain to myself,"It is going to take forever here and I still have
so
many other places to go.
Christmas really is getting more and more annoying
every year. How I wish I could just lie down, go to sleep and only
wake
up after it..."

None theless, I made my way to the toy section, and
there I started to curse the prices, wondering if after all kids
> really
play with such expensive toys.
>
> While looking in the toy section, I noticed a small
> boy of about 5
> years old, pressing a doll against his chest.
> He kept on touching the hair of the doll and looked
> so sad. I
> wondered who was this doll for. Then the little boy
> turned to the old
> woman next to him, "Granny, are you sure I don't have
> enough money?"
>
> The old lady replied, "You know that you don't have
> enough money to buy this doll, my dear."
> Then she asked him to stay here for 5 minutes while
> she went to look around. She left quickly.
>
> The little boy was still holding the doll in his
> hand.
>
> Finally, I started to walk toward him and I asked him
> who did he want to give this doll to.
> "It is the doll that my sister loved most and wanted
> so much for this Christmas. She was so sure that Santa Claus would
> bring it to her."
>
> I replied to him that maybe Santa Claus will bring it
> to her, after all, and not to worry.
>
> But he replied to me sadly. "No, Santa Claus can not
> bring it to her where she is now. I have to give the doll to my
> mother so that she can give it to her when she goes there." His eyes
> were so
> sad while saying this. "My sister has gone to be with God. Daddy says
> that Mummy will also go to see God very soon, so I thought that she
> could bring the doll with her to give it to my sister."
>
> My heart nearly stopped. The little boy looked up at
> me and said, "I told daddy to tell mummy not to go yet. I asked him
> to wait until I come back from the supermarket."
>
> Then he showed me a very nice photo of him where he
> was laughing. He then told me, "I also want mummy to take this photo
> with her so that she will not forget me." I love my mummy and I wish
> she doesn't have to leave me but daddy says that she has to go to be
> with my little sister."
> Then he looked again at the doll with sad eyes, very
> quietly.
> I quickly reached for my wallet and took a few notes
> and said to the
> boy, "What if we checked again, just in case if you
> have enough
> money?"
> "Ok," he said. "I hope that I have enough."
> I added some of my money to his without him seeing
> and we started to
> count it. There was enough for the doll, and even
> some spare money.
> The little boy said, "Thank you God for giving me
> enough money."
>
> Then he looked at me and added, "I asked yesterday
> before I slept for
> God to make sure I have enough money to buy this doll
&g t; so that mummy
> can give it to my sister. He heard me." "I also
> wanted to have enough
> money to buy a white rose for my mummy, but I didn't
> dare to ask God
> too much. But He gave me enoug h to buy the doll and
> the white rose."
> "You know, my mummy loves white rose."
> A few minutes later, the old lady came again and I
> left with my
> trolley. I finished my shopping in a totally
> different state from when
> I started. I couldn't get the little boy out of my
> mind.
>
> Then I remembered a local newspaper article 2 days
> ago, which mentioned of a drunk man in a truck who hit a car
> where there was one
> young lady and a little girl. The little girl died
> right away, and the mother was left in a critical state. The family
> had
> to decide whether
> to pull the plug on the life-assisting machine,
> because the young lady
> w ou ld not be able to get out of the coma.
> Was this the family of the little boy?
> Two days after this encounter with the little boy, I
> read in the
> newspaper that the young lady had passed away.
> I couldn't stop myself and went to buy a bunch of
> white roses and I
> went to the mortuary where the body of the young
> woman was exposed for
> people to see and make last wish before burial.
>
> She was there, in her coffin, holding a beautiful
> white rose in her
> hand with the photo of the little boy and the doll
> placed over her
> chest.
>
> I left the place crying, feeling that my life had
> been changed forever. The love that this little boy had for his
> mother and his sister is still, to that day, hard to imagine. And in
> a fraction of a second, a drunk man had taken all this away from him.