Three Little Blessings

I was out for a walk after being snowbound for a week; determined to start trying to get in shape and to put off the problems of work, life and the Falcons loss in the playoffs. I’m usually in a pretty good mood when I walk, because I love talking to my neighbors and waving at people. I want folks to know that everyone they see is not a thug, thief, gang banger, or a burglar, despite the propaganda that we read and see on the news about black neighborhoods being so dangerous. My neighbors always respond with a wave and a smile, which returns the love that I’m sending out. It makes me feel good; but this day was an unexpected joy.

It was my usual four mile trek thru the two subdivisions I walk in, when I saw them at the top of the hill. Four children, two girls and two boys, playing in the street and practicing what looked like a line dance as they laughed and teased each other. Being the nosey neighbor I am, I couldn’t resist asking,

“Hey there, what’s that dance you guys are doing?” I said with a smile.

They looked up as they saw me for the first time. At first they were a little shy, but when they saw me smiling they opened up with four big grins.

“It’s the Jerk,” said one of the boys whose name is Jordan.

“See it goes like this,” he said as he showed me some steps that looked somewhat familiar. As he danced, the other three youngsters joined in and tried to give me dancing instructions.

“Come on you can do it, it’s easy. You try it!”

“No, I can’t do it now. I’ll have to watch the video,” I said with a laugh. I enjoyed talking to them but I was concerned that someone might see me and think I was a pervert trying to lure these little kids away. Plus I was just trying to get my workout on.

“No guys, I gotta keep walking guys. I better go,” I said as I patted one of the little girls on the head, “I need to keep doing my workout. So I’ll see you later.”

“Can we walk with you?” It was the little girl whose head I had just patted. She looked at me with a big smile and pleading eyes. In that instant, I realized that we had connected on that very innocent and beautiful human level. All of the kids wanted to follow me and I was shocked. I wasn’t ready for this and I didn’t want the responsibility. I had to escape somehow. After all I was the adult, I could figure out something. (Right)

“No you can’t come with me; I’m going a long way. I’m walking the whole subdivision and that’s too far for you to go.”

“We can go! We walk that far all the time!”

“No you can’t, I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

“We won’t get in trouble. It’s okay mister, please?”

I tried everything I could think of and they kept trying to follow me as I slowly backed away. But they wouldn’t budge and I was stumped! Finally I thought of a new tactic, one that would emphasize my authority as an adult.

“You can’t go… cause… you can’t catch me!” Then I wheeled on my back heel and started running, planning to catch them by surprise. I figured they would just look at me sprinting away and give up. Boy was I wrong, because they took it as a challenge. Seconds later I heard squeals of laughter as they came running behind me.

“Wait for us, we’re coming too! Hahahahahahahhaha!!! Come on let’s catch him.”
Three of the four kids took off behind me in hot pursuit. We were running downhill which was a big help to me, because I don’t really like to run anymore.

Suddenly I was a child again too, laughing as I ran. It was so funny because I was running away from them and they loved it. They chased me for 5 blocks, all the way down the hill, laughing the whole time. It was almost an out of body experience, especially for someone who is no longer close to childhood. Everytime they got closer, I slowed down a little until they were almost even, and then I “sprinted” away again. They just laughed harder and kept chasing me. I guess I was a tad more interesting than dancing in the street. Finally I decided to start walking again (because I didn’t want them to see me have a heart attack) and they caught up within moments. They were still laughing, although they were out of breath.

“Man, you’re fast! You just kept running away from us,” said the beautiful little girl who I’d patted on the head. She had pretty brown skin, dark piercing eyes and a smile that would melt your heart. I was glad I wasn’t her Dad because I would have spoiled her rotten. Her name was Brittany, 10 years old, in the 5^th grade and she loves math.

Running beside her was little 6 year old Rene who was in the first grade and could run like the wind. She was also a doll, with medium brown skin, long pony tails and a missing front tooth. She wants to be a scientist and she loves dogs.

Then there was little Jordan, an 8 year old who was a ball of fire and all boy. He was dark-skinned with curly hair and beautiful white teeth. He too had a smile that could light up the night sky. Jordan is Brittany’s brother and they were both so proud of each other that you could feel it. He’s still full of the little boy dreams of playing baseball and football, but he loves to talk and is very curious.

They walked with me for nearly three miles, up and down steep hills, laughing and asking me questions the whole time. But they kept up with me, even though I was taking long strides because I was trying to keep a brisk pace. With them, I felt like the leader of the pack, on a mission to go to the grocery store and get candy and go play in the park.

I was quickly becoming attached to each of them as they told me about their likes and dislikes, and how they’d enjoyed being out of school because of the snow. As we walked, Jordan noticed that I had a blue tooth in my ear.

“I have a phone,” he said, “Wanna see it? Here it is.” Jordan proudly pulled out his cell phone and handed it to me. It wasn’t fancy, but I was impressed that he had one.

"Wow, you have a phone, that’s great!”

“I have one too,” said Brittany, as she pulled it out of her pocket and showed it to me.

“Me too,” said little Rene. “See here’s mine!”

“Boy you guys are really high tech,” I said as I gave them my approval. They looked at me proudly and smiled. Normally I might have wondered why these little squirts would have cell phones? But then I realized that if they were playing in the neighborhood, their parents could call them and tell them to come home. Plus, the kids weren’t playing with the phones, they were just glad to have them.

A bit later, Jordan stopped to talk to another boy on a bike, as we continued to walk.

“You guys go ahead, I’ll catch up,” he said with a grin. I looked back to keep an eye on him to make sure he was okay. I guess I was responsible after all and I kinda liked it. Moments later Jordan came running down the street to catch up with us and in his excitement, he cut across someone’s front lawn. I was disappointed in that, but I understood that he was a child and he was just excited. Still I had to say something.

“Jordan, you shouldn’t cut across people’s yards. They don’t like it.” Then I turned to his sister Brittany and told her that she should remind him that people work on their yards and they don’t like it when kids run across them. She looked at me and got a serious look on her face.

“I know, one time a lady told me she was going to call the police on me because I was in her yard.”

“Well why were you in her yard?” As I asked the question, I could tell that she saw the disappointment in my face. As a homeowner, kids running through my yard are one of my pet peeves. I wasn’t worried about them ruining the grass. I just think kids today aren’t being taught to respect other people’s property. Brittany looked down and then looked back at me with an explanation.

“I was just trying to get my rubber band back,” she said. “I was doing my hair as I was walking and the rubber band snapped off my pony tail and flew into her yard. I didn’t mean it.”

“Well did you apologize to her and tell her what had happened?”

“Yes I did,” she said, “The lady got quiet and looked at me, but then she said she’d call the police anyway”.

“Well.. did you at least get the rubber band back?”

“Yep, but I was scared”

I thought to myself that I would never threaten to call the cops on a kid for running through my yard. I’d rather talk to them and remind them that they need to respect everyone’s yard.

“Well Brittany, maybe the lady was frustrated because too many kids run through her yard. She probably wouldn’t call the police on you, at least not for that. Just try not to do it again.”

“Don’t worry, I WON’T!” Two seconds later she was smiling again after she saw that I accepted her explanation. Just then we looked back and Jordan had fallen behind again, being the little social butterfly he is. So it was just me and the two little girls, power walking up the hill. They giggled as I worked my arms and legs together and then they imitated me as we pretended to be in a race. About 5 minutes later, Brittany’s phone rang; it was Jordan calling her because he’d lost sight of us. She chatted with him for a second and then hung up.

“That was Jordan”, she said with a big grin. “He always checks on me. He’s very attached to me!”

“Really, well that’s good that y’all are so close!”

“Oh yes! You know one time I was at the eye doctor, and they were squirting those drops in my eyes? And Jordan went to the doctor and said, ‘What are you putting in my sister’s eyes? That’s not poison is it!” We both fell out laughing as she continued to tell the story.

“Then Jordan asked the doctor if he could come in the room with me. He said he wanted to keep an eye on me and the doctor.” She laughed as she told me the story about her relationship with her brother. But you could tell she was proud of him and loved him very much. With each moment, I was more and more fascinated with the kids, especially Brittany. They just blew me away with how bright they were. They were so happy and full of life, and open to learning. As we got close to the end of our walk, I turned down the last street that was a dead end, with a circle.

“Well this is my last street. Let’s go down here and walk this curve and go around the cul- de- sac.” Brittany looked at me with a frown on her face that was really a question mark with a grin.

“A cul de sac, what’s that?”

I realized that then that I was using an older term that people don’t use much anymore. But I was happy that I had one more tiny, teaching moment.

“ A cul de sac is a French term that means dead end. But it’s not really a dead end, because there’s a circle where you can turn around.”

“Hmmm, I never heard of that before.”

“Well you should Google it. Its spelled cul-de-sac. Can you remember that?”

“Yes, I’m going to look it up when I get home,” said my new little friend Brittany. You could tell that her mind was like a sponge, just soaking up knowledge. They were all so beautiful and I realized I was enjoying their company a million times more than I expected. As we rounded the last corner, I told them something they didn’t want to hear, that I had to spilt off and head back to my neighborhood.

“Well guys, I gotta go home now. You better head back home before your parents start to worry. I really enjoyed our walk.”

“Okay,” Brittany said slowly, with a sad face. “But wait Mister, you never told us your name?”

“My name is Ray, but you can call me Mr. Ray if you want.” Brittany looked up at me as if she was deep in thought, and then she said with a serious look,

“I don’t like calling adults by their first names,” she said, “I think it’s disrespectful!” I was nearly speechless because she said exactly what I was thinking, almost like she was reading my mind. Yes Brittany, you get it!

They each gave me a big hug and another smile. Then they taught me a new cool handshake that starts off with a fist bump. It reminded me of the handshakes we had back in the day of Afros and Black Student Unions, when I was in college. But I decided to tell them that story the next time we went for a walk, after I let them teach me the “Jerk”.

“Bye Mister Ray, see you later!”

“Yes, I’ll be looking for you the next time I walk”

As I walked on home, I couldn’t help but smile from this amazing experience that warmed my heart and gave me new hope for the next generation. I’ll never walk past another group of kids again, without looking at them in a different way and wondering what they are thinking about. Those three little blessings related to me, because I saw them and they saw me too. Oh, and I promised myself to be more patient the next time a little kid runs through my yard. Because who knows, they might be looking for a very special rubber band.