A Precious Little Girl...

I was down by the river… sitting on a bench… watching the barges go by… and listening to the waves… rolling against the shore… with those warm rays of the sun… gently caressing my skin…

?????????But in a Brief Moment…

????????????????? ? ?It All Changed

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It was a cool spring day… not long ago… when a little girl walked up to me… she kinda caught me by surprise… when I heard her little voice say… “What are you doing?” but I guess I was too focused… somewhere miles away… when I heard her repeat the question…

I turned to her saying… “Hi…” she looked about 3 years old… and was as cute as a button… when she stated… “This is mine…” throwing her little arms down on the bench… that’s when I seen her mom standing there… grinning from ear to ear… and then the little girl said… “Get up…”

I asked for her name… but the little girl giggled… then said… “Emily…” so I said… very nice to meet you Emily… asking… Am I in your spot?… She quickly said “Yes” so I started to get up… but that’s when her mom said… “No… You don’t have to…” seeming to be somewhat embarrassed…

So I looked at Emily and asked… “Do you think there’s enough room for all of us to sit here?” she looked up at me… then turned to her mom saying… “Sit down…” it was absolutely precious… so I told her mom I could leave… but she asked me not to… then she sat down beside me…

She introduced herself as Cathy… just as Little Emily decided to climb up in between us… putting her arms around her mom… giving her a big hug… but then felt… as she put her little arm around me… I could see the look on mom… surprisingly curious… but she was also very quiet… so I told them my name… telling Emily that I’ve been watching the boats… and listening to the waves… but she didn’t reply… so Cathy mentioned that’s what they used do as well…

We were sitting there… quite for a moment… when Emily decided to get down… she put her little hand upon my knee… and just stood there…

It amazed me… because I’ve never seen a child that young… so willing to just stand there… it was like something was on her mind… looking out over the river…

But when I looked over at Cathy… she seemed to be lost in this moment as well… but with watery eyes… and it made feel like I was intruding… however I wasn’t sure… but about that time… Emily’s arm dropped across my leg… resting her little body against me… so I tapped Cathy’s arm… but as she turned… a tear was rolling down her cheek… and she never said a word… I was at a loss… but I wasn’t about to move…

Cathy reached out with her hand… running her finger tips through her daughter’s hair… just as Emily decided to lay her head down on my leg… my heart was falling apart… but I just sat there…

I asked Cathy if they were okay… she just nodded… whispering “I’ll tell you later…” then asked to see my phone… … … I watched as she put her number in… then she called her phone… saying “I’ll call you tonight…”

Shortly after… she tapped little Emily on the back… saying it’s time to go honey… Emily looked at her mom… then looked up at me… she turned… putting her little arms out to give me hug… I had tears in my eyes… especially when she told me… goodbye…

I couldn’t get this out of my head… just wondering if I should have done something different… but I just continued to set there… with my heart crying…

About 10:30 that night… my phone rang… I saw it was Cathy… she started off saying how happy she was for us to have met… and she apologized for the tears… but I told her was no need… and I hope I wasn’t intruding… then she got quiet…

She said… “Something happened today…” pausing for a second… ”and it was because of you…” I told her I’m so sorry… but she quickly said there’s more… and began telling me… that her father had passed away… (Emily’s grandpa…) it was a year ago this March… and that Emily at two years old… had taken it quite hard… … and the only thing I could think of… was I can’t even imagine…

I could hear it in her voice… Cathy was getting emotional… that’s when she said… “I haven’t shared this with anyone else before… but I hope you don’t mind…” then telling me about how close they were… saying Emily and her Grandpa used to set on that bench… almost every day… but after he passed… she never wanted to go back out there… that is… until you were sitting there… and that’s when she kinda lost it…

I was so glad she couldn’t see me through the phone… because I had tears rolling down my cheeks… (and still do… just thinking about it…)

She continued with… “I watched… as my little girl walked up to a stranger setting on that bench…” she couldn’t believe it… saying… “I didn’t understand… but then it hit me… my baby is back…” adding… “and I figured you thought I was nuts…” but I quickly told her… “No…”

She told me that Emily used to stand there leaning against Grandpa… just like she was doing with me… and that’s why she was crying… stating… “I knew right then… you were there for a reason…” she said Emily was so happy after that… telling me… “I finally got my little girl back…”

Now we sat there on the phone… talking ’til well after midnight… because she really needed someone to talk to… and it’s something I never will forget…

We formed a bond that day… that neither one of us was expecting… Cathy… became the daughter… I never knew I had… and little Emily… she’s just the precious Angel… that has touched my life… in a way that is hard to explain…

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I’ve never told anyone about this encounter… and I’m hesitant to share it now… because we still talk every now and then… and no one else knows…

We met back in early April… just after the anniversary of her father’s passing… and all I can say is… this moment has touched us all…

People can believe… what they want believe… but I know… deep in my heart… that Our Lord... works in mysterious ways… using us in a way… that at the time… we may not even know ??

And it seems funny… how we inadvertently touch others around us… and how in turn… it truly effects us… and how it always happens… when we least expect it…

A True Blessing:?April 10, 2023

Posted:?July 29, 2023

Photography…

???& Written by: Daniel Crews