i fell in love yesterday...

with a sweet boy who has been dealt an unfair life. he's probably only 7 or so...and he has some sort of illness that affects his movement.

but i fell in love with him.

we exchanged smiles. i'm pretty sure he's a little kindred spirit. his eyes told me so.

how did we meet?

my grandad volunteers his driving skills (and he's 83!!). there's a children's hospital in erie, pennsylvania where he takes ill children to for doctors appointments. a parent comes along as well.

on tuesday grandad had called and asked if i wanted to be his co-driver...after thinking about it, i decided i would--since it'd be a way that i could get out of the house!

i didn't know that i would fall in love, though....

i love exchanging smiles...especially with children. they're so sweet! (and you know, even if they aren't sweet, a smile can usually bring a tiny bit of sweetness out of them!)

when we arrived at the hospital, we ate lunch in the cafeteria. i helped dennis get his drink....he had difficulty opening the refrigerator door...he thanked me.

then i went ahead and found a table and sat down. as dennis and his mom were coming closer, she asked dennis where he was going to sit. he looked shyly at me and then chose the seat next to me. (smile)

when we had finished eating...we all sat for a bit at the table. it wasn't quite time for his appointment. i had leaned back in my chair, and dennis turned and looked at me. i smiled. he turned and looked at me again. his mom spoke up kind of roughly, "what are you looking at?" dennis didn't say anything.

after the appointment, when we were leaving the hospital, the mom was helping dennis get in the van and he spoke, "it smells like bugs out here. dead bugs." (it was a rainy day). i was laughing so hard inside! what a great thing to say! if only all of you could have heard his voice....just priceless.

during the ride back to bradford from erie, i glanced back at dennis different times. more exchanged glances...and occasional smiles. it's a nice game to play.

we arrived at his home. i said goodbye to dennis and as his mom was carrying him out of the van, he reached his hand out toward me--and i was able to shake just a finger before he was gone. there was such a sweetness in his face.

i hope i see him again. and i hope he remembers the day of our exchanged smiles. :)