I was walking around in a store. I saw a cashier
hand this little boy his money back saying
"I'm sorry, but you don't have enough money
to buy this doll."

Then the little boy turned to the old woman
next to him: ''Granny, are you sure I don't have
enough money?''

The old lady replied: ''You know that you
don't have enough money to buy this doll, my dear.''

Then she asked him to stay there for 5
minutes while she went to look around. She left
quickly.

The little boy was still holding the doll in
his hand.

Finally, I walked toward him and I asked him
who he wished to give this doll to.

"It's the doll that my sister loved most and
wanted so much for this Christmas. She was so
sure that Santa Claus would bring it to her."

I replied to him that maybe Santa Claus will
bring it to her after all, and not to worry.

But he replied to me sadly. "No, Santa Claus
can't bring it to her where she is now. I have to
give the doll to my mommy so that she can give it to
my sister when she goes there."

His eyes were so sad while saying this. "My
sister has gone to be with God. Daddy says that
Mommy is going to see God very soon too, so I
thought that she could take the doll with her to
give it to my sister.''

My heart nearly stopped.

The little boy looked up at me and said: "I
told daddy to tell mommy not to go yet. I need
her to wait until I come back from the mall."

Then he showed me a very nice photo of him where
he was laughing. He then told me "I want mommy
to take my picture with her so she won't forget me."


"I love my mommy and I wish she doesn't have
to leave me, but daddy says that she has to go to be
with my little sister."

Then he looked again at the doll with sad
eyes, very quietly.

I quickly reached for my wallet and said to
the boy. "What if we checked again, just in case you
do have enough money?''

"OK" he said "I hope that I have enough." I added
some of my money to his without him seeing and
we started to count it. There was enough for the
doll and even some spare money.

The little boy said: "Thank you God for
giving me enough money!"

Then he looked at me and added "I asked yesterday
before I slept for God to make sure I have enough
money to buy this doll so that mommy can give
it to my sister. He heard me!''

"I also wanted to have enough money to buy a
white rose for my mommy, but I didn't dare to ask
God for too much. But He gave me enough to buy the
doll and a white rose.''

"My mommy loves white roses."

A few minutes later, the old lady came again
and I lef t with my basket.

I finished my shopping in a totally different state
from when I started. I couldn't get the little boy
out of my mind.

Then I remembered a local newspaper article
2 days ago, which mentioned of a drunk man in
a truck, who hit a car, where there was one young
lady and a little girl.

The little girl died right away, and the
mother was left in a critical state. The family had
to decide whether to pull the plug on the
life-assisting machine, because the young lady would
not be able to recover from the coma.

Was this the family of the little boy?

Two days after this encounter with the little
boy, I read in the newspaper that the young
lady had passed away.

I couldn't stop myself as I bought a bunch
of white roses and I went to the funeral home where
the body of the young woman was exposed for people
to see and make last wishes before burial.

She was there, in her coffin, holding a beautiful
white rose in her hand with the photo of the
little boy and the doll placed over her chest.

I left the place, teary-eyed, feeling that
my life had been changed forever. The love that this
little boy had for his mother and his sister is
still, to this day, hard to imagine. And in a
fraction of a second, a drunk driver had taken all
this away from him.

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