One slobery miracle

Yesterday on my way to the hospital where I volunteer, I was impatiently stuck at a red light. I hate this light. It's one of those lights that always manages to get you no matter how you time yourself. Knowing I was going to be there for at least until the next epoch, I flipped through the crap on the radio and began to observe the people around me.

I peered down to the vehicle next to me to see a young women doing her make-up. She stared into her rear view mirror glooping on her mascara and kissing herself as she added the last touches of her shiny lipstick. All the while oblivious to anything going on around her, and appeared completely content that this stop light was an opportunity to finish what she didn't have time for as she rushed out for the day.

As we sat at the light, her vehicle drifted forward slightly. Just enough for me to see that she has a small child in the back seat. It was in one of those crazy contraptions called a car seat which was facing the back of the car window. Thank God they didn't make us sit that way when I was little. Puking would have been a daily occurrence!

Still sitting at the red light, I sat and watched this child. He was maybe 7 months old and just figuring out how interesting his feet were. He seemed almost in his own world, and for a brief moment, I entered it with him. He would look down at his feet, poke his toe, then his knee, stretch his neck as much as he could to see anything outside the back window, and then go back to his toe. His ability to amuse himself made me laugh. Then as if to hear my laughter, he tried to look out the window next to my car. Unfortunately, the sun was directly in his eyes. He would squint, and then rub his eyes as if he was ready for a nap. Then back to the toe. Meanwhile, the spit forming on and around his mouth was beginning to pool on his T-shirt. Again, he attempted another look out the back window, still no luck.

As the light turned green, I was almost disappointed. His mother moved the car forward, and as I kept watching, he once again looked over to me. With the bright sun in his face and squinting eyes, he produced a wet, slobery smile that made me laugh and smile back. He clapped his hands and was gone.

I turned left and proceeded about my business, amazed at how just a few minutes of wonder can completely change you.