Life is Short and Fragile

I have not been a very regular "blogger"... I seem to always have things on my mind that I would care to share, but insufficient time to actually sit down and share them. Or maybe insufficient initiative. Maybe they aren't important enough to me... Heck, maybe they aren't important enough for anyone!

Occasionally, though, something rattles me enough to engender a need to express some feelings.

Go over to your refrigerator. Smack it with the back of your hand.

Thump...

Harder. Give it a good whack.

Thump!

Yea, that's about right.

That's what I heard today, about like that... Out in front of a WalMart, Mobile, Alabama.

Only the refrigerator, this time, was a car, and the hand (Thump!), a little boy. Maybe about 4... like my grandson. Seared in my memory. Thump.

I didn't see it... I just heard it... I had just come out and was looking for my vehicle so I could get home to flirt with my granddaughter, tickle my grandson. I just heard it. Thump! The most awful sound I can imagine. Perhaps 15 or 20 feet behind me. A woman screaming. A man, WalMart employee(?), shouting, "Everyone! Get back!" A crowd gathering.

I paused considering if I could help. The little boy's mom, gathering him up in her arms... Bad idea probably, considering the possibility of spinal injury, but could any mother not cradle her injured child?

He seemed to be standing... he was crying. Was there a little blood? I pondered. Was there anything I could do? The WalMart employee(?) appeared to have things under control. People obeyed his instructions. Had they called 911? Surely someone had done so, likely at his urging. Big crowd gathering. Dang, we humans just have to crane our necks at disasters. The crowd won't help with ambulance access. So I moved on toward my truck. Don't add to the confusion.

Maybe they had been buying Halloween candy and costumes. That surely excited me when I was little. Drove my kids mad when they were young. I would have run out of WalMart, had it existed then, into traffic, eager for some Halloween gratification. My kids would have, if we hadn't been hanging onto them like leeches.

Goodness, gracious, I surely hope the little guy is ok. He didn't deserve to be hit by a car. I hope the driver of the car is ok. He/she was moving slowly (thankfully) in front of the store. Who can predict when a child will run out? Every time I crank up my truck and pull out of my driveway, I think about my grandchildren and my niece and nephew who all live so close, and I check, check, check to make sure the coast is clear. And I know that a single mistake, maybe not my fault, could end a young life in an instant. If I ever should be involved in a mistake like that, my life would not be worth living.

When I got home, my 1.5 yo granddaughter came into my study. I held out my arms to her and she came and sat in my lap. We looked at pictures on Facebook of my students acting goofy. I told her how much I love them and how much I love her. That was what I needed.

Tomorrow morning, early, when I go out to pick up my paper, I hope I see nothing about this.. or maybe some good news... "Child Recovering From Traffic Mishap"... That would make my oatmeal taste pretty sweet.

Life is short and so fragile. You better love your loved ones now. Tomorrow may be too late. Word.