Saturday, May 15, 2010

A little Dutch Boy

I haven't posted in a while, ok, a long while. I haven't felt like there has been much to say. But here I am. On the eve of another Walk and Roll, which has evolved from being a huge challenge to mostly just a lot of fun (and something to feel good about, because Derby Lite has raised almost $24,000 and I think it will get close to $25,0000 for the American Cancer Society)...but anyway, what does that have to do with a little Dutch boy?

Being a news junkie, this week, I heard about the lone survivor of a plane crash in Libya, an 8 year old boy. He is from the Netherlands, far away from home. It was both, like many news stories, interesting, but far away, and also very personal. It reminded me that I, too, woke, up in a hospital once far from home not knowing where I was or where my parents or my brother were. And I was 8 years old too. The situation was, of course, very different: I was in a car crash in Arkansas (I lived in New York), I got to see my mother and my brother within a day or so of when I woke up (I was out for about 24 hours), but I vividly remember when I first woke up and realized I was alone. My dad died in that car crash, and I knew something was wrong even before my mom told me about that. Kids know. I couldn't figure out what was wrong, but I knew something was.

So hearing about the story about the little Dutch boy, at first I thought it was just an amazing news story. One kid out of a whole planeful of people. But then I realized our world is smaller than we think and we have connections or similarities that aren't apparent at first glance. We are all the same. That little boy's life will change, I might actually understand one little bit of what he is going through. It will be harder than he thought (and he probably will understand way more about what is going on than the adults will realize). But it will still be his life. I hope he will be helped through this, and loved, and listened too.

And me? I grew up with my mom and my brother. I've taken paths and done things differently than might have happened otherwise (of course, I have no idea what "could have happened"), but it's ok, and I'm ok with where I've been and where I'm going. I wish the same for the little Dutch boy.

Hugs and kisses to all of you. Namaste.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Doll. I had no idea that you had endured this, thank you for sharing your story. M

Jacky Hackett said...

Glad your postings are back. Congrats to Derby Lite on the amazing fund-raising and skate. Thanks for sharing your story!