President Justine
My son and I went to see The Chronicles of Narnia in Manhattan with a few of his friends from school (by the way, I thought it was wonderful, and I am a fanatical Narnia purist). After the movie Connor and I and one of his friends, a fabulous little girl named Justine, did a little shopping on the Upper East Side before heading back to Queens. We went to Barnes and Noble and Jamba Juice, and were preparing to catch a cab home when Connor noticed a Salvation Army bell ringer on the corner and urgently grabbed my arm to alert me.
Connor and I have a special, personal gratitude towards the Salvation Army, and we always give the bell ringers money. It's a great organization that deserves support.
Anyway, as soon as we saw the bell ringer the three of us hurried over to empty our pocket change into his red plastic bucket. He was ringing his bell with all his might, shivering in the cold, and wishing every passer by "Merry Christmas! God Bless You!"
"You look so cold!" Justine cried. "Yeah, I should have worn a scarf," he replied with a smile. "But if I ring my bell real hard, it keeps me warm."
I thought of the cozy taxi ride home I was about to take with two snuggly children, and the warm apartment, good food and loving man I had waiting for me there, and took off my scarf immediately. The kids giggled as I tied it around the man's neck, especially since it was a fairly girly pastel fleece scarf and looked pretty funny with the man's black leather jacket. But it was warm and after a moment's protest he thanked me with a huge grin and rearranged it to his liking. Then he started ringing his bell again.
As we were waiting to cross the street Justine grinned up at me and asked, "Isn't is fun to be one of the Good People?" She was sort of hopping up and down with joy and proceeded to tell me about the club she had started at the school. Her mom is an emergency room nurse at Bellevue, and Justine had discovered that there were lots of kids in the hospital. "At CHRISTMAS TIME! In the HOSPITAL!" she exclaimed, scandalized. So she started a club of girls at school who make handmade Christmas cards for these kids during recess. "I'm the president," she told me modestly.
At the end of the movie we had just watched, the four Pevensie children are crowned kings and queens of Narnia, and I had just been reflecting on the idea that maybe having children lead us isn't such a bad idea. I'm constantly delighted by the natural sympathy and generosity of the children I know. It gives me hope.
Connor and I have a special, personal gratitude towards the Salvation Army, and we always give the bell ringers money. It's a great organization that deserves support.
Anyway, as soon as we saw the bell ringer the three of us hurried over to empty our pocket change into his red plastic bucket. He was ringing his bell with all his might, shivering in the cold, and wishing every passer by "Merry Christmas! God Bless You!"
"You look so cold!" Justine cried. "Yeah, I should have worn a scarf," he replied with a smile. "But if I ring my bell real hard, it keeps me warm."
I thought of the cozy taxi ride home I was about to take with two snuggly children, and the warm apartment, good food and loving man I had waiting for me there, and took off my scarf immediately. The kids giggled as I tied it around the man's neck, especially since it was a fairly girly pastel fleece scarf and looked pretty funny with the man's black leather jacket. But it was warm and after a moment's protest he thanked me with a huge grin and rearranged it to his liking. Then he started ringing his bell again.
As we were waiting to cross the street Justine grinned up at me and asked, "Isn't is fun to be one of the Good People?" She was sort of hopping up and down with joy and proceeded to tell me about the club she had started at the school. Her mom is an emergency room nurse at Bellevue, and Justine had discovered that there were lots of kids in the hospital. "At CHRISTMAS TIME! In the HOSPITAL!" she exclaimed, scandalized. So she started a club of girls at school who make handmade Christmas cards for these kids during recess. "I'm the president," she told me modestly.
At the end of the movie we had just watched, the four Pevensie children are crowned kings and queens of Narnia, and I had just been reflecting on the idea that maybe having children lead us isn't such a bad idea. I'm constantly delighted by the natural sympathy and generosity of the children I know. It gives me hope.
posted by Joan at 1:58 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home