There are some people, especially Big Mama and BooMama who can take a trip to the HEB or Target and write the most entertaining post about it. They really make the everyday, entertaining. Well, today I took a trip to Wal-Mart and it gave me nothing entertaining to write about.
But here is the story it did give me:
While I wandered through the store this afternoon Landon and I crossed paths with this lady and a young boy a few times. The first time we passed by the two, I'll be honest, I had very judgemental thoughts about them. The lady was VERY dirty, matted, stringy hair, dirty clothes, poor hygiene in general. I mentally reprimanded myself for having these thoughts as I walked on by. I mean really - where did my mind go - she is a creation of GOD and loved by HIM - I have no right.
About 15 minutes later, in housewares, our paths crossed for a second time. This time the lady, who I now discovered was the boy's grandma, was almost dragging, pulling, and tugging this young boy, who looked to be about 5 or 6, by his arm. I honestly thought that she was going to dislocate his shoulder. The boy was fussing - not crying, but seemed to be mad that he hadn't gotten his way. (I later found out that she wouldn't buy him a video game.) She was yelling at him. Not in a full screaming voice, but in a harsh tone, raised above an "inside voice." Landon at this point even made a comment that she was not being quiet inside. I over heard, well - couldn't help but hear, what she was saying to him. I mean we were about 5 feet from each other. She was saying things like, "Your grandpa is going to leave you here if you don't straighten up." Or, "You're not worth the trouble." Or even, "Straighten up or I'll beat you." At this point I tried to move on, let them have their moment, and not judge. I stopped myself from saying anything to the lady. I mean, I don't know why the grandma has the boy. Is there a mom or dad in the picture? Does the little boy stay with grandma and grandpa during the day why some parent-like figure is trying to earn a living to give this boy a future? Who knows? Who will ever know? I voiced a quick prayer - "Help this boy." This event was not setting well with my soul, but I admit, I moved on, forgetting the boy, looking for the next item on my list.
About 30 minutes later I had checked out, with way more items than I came for, made my way to the car and had buckled Landon into his car seat. I hopped into the front seat of my car, took the shade down from my front window, when I saw that same boy in the isle in front of my car, wandering in the parking lot, obviously looking for someone/something. I jumped out of the car, and asked the boy if he was lost. I asked him where his grandma was. He told me he thinks she left. I took the boy by the hand, and brought him over to my car so I could unbuckle Landon and take the boy inside the store to find his family. I was shocked that when I opened my back door to get Landon out the boy almost climbed into the back seat of my car. Landon and I walked with the young boy back into the store. Now, I was a ways back in the parking lot - about 15 cars deep - a nice little walk back to the store. I was talking to the boy telling him we would find his grandma, and he would be ok. I was of course scanning the parking lot as we were walking and did not see his grandma anywhere, nor did I see a man who could have been his grandpa searching the parking lot. The three of us went in the store to customer service and I asked to speak with a manager because this boy was found wandering in the parking lot. At this time I realized that no one was looking for this boy (doubt if they even noticed he was missing) because no one had activated CODE ADAM (which would have shut all the doors, not allowing anyone out of the store and all personnel would have been on alert to find him). I told the store associate the info I had found out by talking to the boy. That his name was Aswald and his grandpa's and grandma's names (or the best he could remember them). They made an all-call through the store and I described what the Grandma looked like since I had seen them in the store earlier - easy to spot. Now, I've had a hold of this boy's hand for about 15 minutes at this point and still no one belonging to this boy (grandma or grandpa) has told a store associate that he is missing. There is no telling how long he had been away from his grandma when I found him in the parking lot. I tried to make small talk with the boy, asking him where he went to school, how old he was, etc. I discovered that he would be going to Kindergarten in a few days, shared with him I was a teacher, and tried to see if he was excited about starting a new school.
The store associates paged again, and shortly after that the boy saw his grandma across the store walking down an isle browsing in the clothing section. He yelled for her, and tried to run to her, but I was not about to let him go. I wanted her to have to come get him, and answer to someone. I told an associate that his grandma was "over there" looking at clothing, not at all worried about the boy. The grandma wandered off before an associate could get to her. About that time the grandpa entered the picture. He came around the corner into customer service and when he saw the boy standing beside me he started yelling at him, pointing his finger, and yelling at him telling him he was in a heap of trouble, and so on. I was very reluctant to let go of the boy's hand, but I did, after a good squeeze. The boy coward over to his grandpa, with his head down. The man grabbed him by the arm, made a few more negative comments to the boy and then started to call someone on his phone. At that time the grandma came over, I guess she recognized the yelling voice; I mean everyone checking out in a 10 isle radius heard the man. The grandpa never even said a word of thanks to any one, me or an associate, for looking after the boy for almost 20 minutes, keeping him safe. He never even spoke or looked at me, or any of the 5 store associates who were standing right there. Just walked off with the dirty lady and the poor boy. Aswald was now back with his family.
It was at this point that my heart really broke. Yes, he was back with his family, but was that a good thing? I so wished at that point that I had called 911 when I found him in the parking lot; at least make the grandma and grandpa speak to the police before they got him back, especially after what I had seen earlier in housewares. I started to cry as I held Landon close and walked out of the store. Landon, so sweet, asked me why I was "sad, sad"? I told him I was sad because that poor boy has to live with "that" every day. Does he ever feel loved? Does anyone ever give him a big hug? Does anyone kiss him goodnight? Now, I don't know the situation at all. And I hate to judge. The grandma and grandpa could be in a situation they didn't ask to be in, raising a troublesome boy when they thought their child rearing days were over. I knew there could be millions of scenarios of why they were there with that boy, why the boy ran away from his grandma. But none of them had to lead to what I saw. I was so terribly sad because I have WAY TOO MANY friends and family members struggling to have a child of their own, people who would give a young boy like Aswald a loving, compassionate home. It just isn't fair.
Even now, three hours later I have a knot in my stomach thinking about Aswald's future, even his near future. What is going to happen to that boy when those people get him home, where no one can see or hear what is going on? Who is going to take care of that boy?
It makes me want to log onto our Student Information Services platform and see if Aswald is enrolled in a kindergarten class in our district for the fall - at least I would know that someone would be looking after his well being for about 6 hours a day. I know I would never find him since I'm not real sure how to spell his first name because when I asked him to spell it he told me about three different ways; and he didn't know his last name - he didn't know - at 5 years old, he didn't know his last name. Landon can tell you his full name, the city and state in which he lives and the name of his street. He can also tell you his mom and dad's full name. He is two. This boy, at 5, wasn't sure how to spell his first name, and didn't even know his last name. He wasn't real sure of his grandma's name when I asked him that earlier.
I won't forget about Aswald for some time I'm sure. After Landon and I left Wal-Mart we drove through Panda Express for some rice to go with our dinner. I will admit after that I drove back through the Wal-Mart parking lot down about 4 isles trying to see if I could find Aswald again. Didn't see him again - probably never will.
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Tonight I also lift prayers to heaven for a former student of mine, Dwayne. Who was a first grader in my class 8 years ago. I think about him often and wonder how he is doing or where he is. His parents disappeared with him in the middle of the night the day after I reported to CPS that he was being abused. This time, to the point that he came to school with raw flesh bleeding on his very thin ribs and couldn't tell me how it happened.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lord, please watch over these two boys, and so many others like them.
I pray for my family and friends (by name) who are struggling to conceive a child of their own; people who would raise a child to know your unwavering love. And I pray for the children who will one day grace their homes, either birthed by them, or by another.
Thank you for loving all of us, even the grandma and grandpa at Wal-Mart, forgiving us ALL when we fail in our own, judgemental ways, everyday.
I pray that Landon feels and knows your love everyday and he knows that there are people on this Earth who love him very much. May he never doubt his worth.
AMEN.
But here is the story it did give me:
While I wandered through the store this afternoon Landon and I crossed paths with this lady and a young boy a few times. The first time we passed by the two, I'll be honest, I had very judgemental thoughts about them. The lady was VERY dirty, matted, stringy hair, dirty clothes, poor hygiene in general. I mentally reprimanded myself for having these thoughts as I walked on by. I mean really - where did my mind go - she is a creation of GOD and loved by HIM - I have no right.
About 15 minutes later, in housewares, our paths crossed for a second time. This time the lady, who I now discovered was the boy's grandma, was almost dragging, pulling, and tugging this young boy, who looked to be about 5 or 6, by his arm. I honestly thought that she was going to dislocate his shoulder. The boy was fussing - not crying, but seemed to be mad that he hadn't gotten his way. (I later found out that she wouldn't buy him a video game.) She was yelling at him. Not in a full screaming voice, but in a harsh tone, raised above an "inside voice." Landon at this point even made a comment that she was not being quiet inside. I over heard, well - couldn't help but hear, what she was saying to him. I mean we were about 5 feet from each other. She was saying things like, "Your grandpa is going to leave you here if you don't straighten up." Or, "You're not worth the trouble." Or even, "Straighten up or I'll beat you." At this point I tried to move on, let them have their moment, and not judge. I stopped myself from saying anything to the lady. I mean, I don't know why the grandma has the boy. Is there a mom or dad in the picture? Does the little boy stay with grandma and grandpa during the day why some parent-like figure is trying to earn a living to give this boy a future? Who knows? Who will ever know? I voiced a quick prayer - "Help this boy." This event was not setting well with my soul, but I admit, I moved on, forgetting the boy, looking for the next item on my list.
About 30 minutes later I had checked out, with way more items than I came for, made my way to the car and had buckled Landon into his car seat. I hopped into the front seat of my car, took the shade down from my front window, when I saw that same boy in the isle in front of my car, wandering in the parking lot, obviously looking for someone/something. I jumped out of the car, and asked the boy if he was lost. I asked him where his grandma was. He told me he thinks she left. I took the boy by the hand, and brought him over to my car so I could unbuckle Landon and take the boy inside the store to find his family. I was shocked that when I opened my back door to get Landon out the boy almost climbed into the back seat of my car. Landon and I walked with the young boy back into the store. Now, I was a ways back in the parking lot - about 15 cars deep - a nice little walk back to the store. I was talking to the boy telling him we would find his grandma, and he would be ok. I was of course scanning the parking lot as we were walking and did not see his grandma anywhere, nor did I see a man who could have been his grandpa searching the parking lot. The three of us went in the store to customer service and I asked to speak with a manager because this boy was found wandering in the parking lot. At this time I realized that no one was looking for this boy (doubt if they even noticed he was missing) because no one had activated CODE ADAM (which would have shut all the doors, not allowing anyone out of the store and all personnel would have been on alert to find him). I told the store associate the info I had found out by talking to the boy. That his name was Aswald and his grandpa's and grandma's names (or the best he could remember them). They made an all-call through the store and I described what the Grandma looked like since I had seen them in the store earlier - easy to spot. Now, I've had a hold of this boy's hand for about 15 minutes at this point and still no one belonging to this boy (grandma or grandpa) has told a store associate that he is missing. There is no telling how long he had been away from his grandma when I found him in the parking lot. I tried to make small talk with the boy, asking him where he went to school, how old he was, etc. I discovered that he would be going to Kindergarten in a few days, shared with him I was a teacher, and tried to see if he was excited about starting a new school.
The store associates paged again, and shortly after that the boy saw his grandma across the store walking down an isle browsing in the clothing section. He yelled for her, and tried to run to her, but I was not about to let him go. I wanted her to have to come get him, and answer to someone. I told an associate that his grandma was "over there" looking at clothing, not at all worried about the boy. The grandma wandered off before an associate could get to her. About that time the grandpa entered the picture. He came around the corner into customer service and when he saw the boy standing beside me he started yelling at him, pointing his finger, and yelling at him telling him he was in a heap of trouble, and so on. I was very reluctant to let go of the boy's hand, but I did, after a good squeeze. The boy coward over to his grandpa, with his head down. The man grabbed him by the arm, made a few more negative comments to the boy and then started to call someone on his phone. At that time the grandma came over, I guess she recognized the yelling voice; I mean everyone checking out in a 10 isle radius heard the man. The grandpa never even said a word of thanks to any one, me or an associate, for looking after the boy for almost 20 minutes, keeping him safe. He never even spoke or looked at me, or any of the 5 store associates who were standing right there. Just walked off with the dirty lady and the poor boy. Aswald was now back with his family.
It was at this point that my heart really broke. Yes, he was back with his family, but was that a good thing? I so wished at that point that I had called 911 when I found him in the parking lot; at least make the grandma and grandpa speak to the police before they got him back, especially after what I had seen earlier in housewares. I started to cry as I held Landon close and walked out of the store. Landon, so sweet, asked me why I was "sad, sad"? I told him I was sad because that poor boy has to live with "that" every day. Does he ever feel loved? Does anyone ever give him a big hug? Does anyone kiss him goodnight? Now, I don't know the situation at all. And I hate to judge. The grandma and grandpa could be in a situation they didn't ask to be in, raising a troublesome boy when they thought their child rearing days were over. I knew there could be millions of scenarios of why they were there with that boy, why the boy ran away from his grandma. But none of them had to lead to what I saw. I was so terribly sad because I have WAY TOO MANY friends and family members struggling to have a child of their own, people who would give a young boy like Aswald a loving, compassionate home. It just isn't fair.
Even now, three hours later I have a knot in my stomach thinking about Aswald's future, even his near future. What is going to happen to that boy when those people get him home, where no one can see or hear what is going on? Who is going to take care of that boy?
It makes me want to log onto our Student Information Services platform and see if Aswald is enrolled in a kindergarten class in our district for the fall - at least I would know that someone would be looking after his well being for about 6 hours a day. I know I would never find him since I'm not real sure how to spell his first name because when I asked him to spell it he told me about three different ways; and he didn't know his last name - he didn't know - at 5 years old, he didn't know his last name. Landon can tell you his full name, the city and state in which he lives and the name of his street. He can also tell you his mom and dad's full name. He is two. This boy, at 5, wasn't sure how to spell his first name, and didn't even know his last name. He wasn't real sure of his grandma's name when I asked him that earlier.
I won't forget about Aswald for some time I'm sure. After Landon and I left Wal-Mart we drove through Panda Express for some rice to go with our dinner. I will admit after that I drove back through the Wal-Mart parking lot down about 4 isles trying to see if I could find Aswald again. Didn't see him again - probably never will.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tonight I also lift prayers to heaven for a former student of mine, Dwayne. Who was a first grader in my class 8 years ago. I think about him often and wonder how he is doing or where he is. His parents disappeared with him in the middle of the night the day after I reported to CPS that he was being abused. This time, to the point that he came to school with raw flesh bleeding on his very thin ribs and couldn't tell me how it happened.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lord, please watch over these two boys, and so many others like them.
I pray for my family and friends (by name) who are struggling to conceive a child of their own; people who would raise a child to know your unwavering love. And I pray for the children who will one day grace their homes, either birthed by them, or by another.
Thank you for loving all of us, even the grandma and grandpa at Wal-Mart, forgiving us ALL when we fail in our own, judgemental ways, everyday.
I pray that Landon feels and knows your love everyday and he knows that there are people on this Earth who love him very much. May he never doubt his worth.
AMEN.
9 comments:
Wow. Powerful! As I read your post, I thought about so many verses in the Bible that refer to situations like you witnessed today. I don't have them committed to memory...yet...so I went to Biblegateway.com and here's what I found on the home page: “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”- Ephesians 2:10. He put that little boy in your path; you obeyed what He asked of you; and He will do the rest. I also thought of Joseph whose family totally threw him under the bus and God completely delivered him. You have no idea what your obedience and servanthood will do for that boy.
Shelley, what an amazing story! I have been in a situation like that a long time ago, and it is hard to have to release the child back to their "family".
I love your blog! I am so glad to see you doing well, and what a beautiful family!!
Keep in touch!
Holly (Hambrick) Lang
If you have access to Lifeways Jouney magazine (August 2008), there is an article that I had just read days ago that deals with some of the same thoughts that you shared on this post. "My Gift of Loss A Foster Mother's Journey" Wal-Mart can be a very disturbing place for a family outing. I personally avoid it. The last time that Jayden was with me, after about six items in the cart, he discovered a $40.00 batman getup that he was willing to rob his savings account for. The rest of the trip was not pleasant but if he had disappeared from sight things would have gone differently. I am so thankful that you saw the boy, and took the time to take him back into the store. With him wandering the parking lot, it boggles the mind to realize what might have become of him. God used you to literally touch his life and you obeyed. You are a wonderful person.
that story makes my heart ache. Poor child! Unfortunately - we see so many of those children in the complex where we live. It is very sad. Come Lord Jesus, COME!!
I am literally in tears! Thank you for that story . . . I will lift both of those boys up in prayer tonight!
Karen
Oh my goodness!!I am crying at thinking what this little boy has to go through. Thanks for sharing that situation. It makes me remember to be more attentive to my surroundings and love on my children even more.
Shelley,
My heart is breaking. It's 5:30am and I can't sleep. Your blog post has me in tears and I am so very prayerful for this child in the store as well as the former student that his parents 'fled'.
I can't believe it. As I read your blog, I thanked God for you because this child will be prayed for now. Shelley---by God's grace..I know this was posted for him. I give the Glory to God and thank you for touching my heart greatly. Being pregnant makes me weepy..and so very angry. I kept thinking..'what would I have done'. I'm thankful to God..He dispatched you. GOD SO KNOWS!
Much love honey----your an amazing momma.
Oh Shelley - you have me crying as I read this post! This is something I really struggle with - that people who clearly don't want children have them everyday, and I can't. God has a plan, but sometimes I just want to take them all home with me. I will be praying for this little boy!
Oh Shelley...what a story. I'll keep them in my prayers. I also have a couple students from the past that our in my heart and on my mind lots. Thank goodness for teachers like you to give them love and guidance while you can.
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