The little boy and the doll

At the last minute, I hurried to the store to do my Christmas shopping. When I saw how many people were there, I started grumbling and complaining...
I'm going to spend an interminable amount of time here, when I still have so much to do!
Christmas is really starting to feel like a chore. It would be so nice to go to bed and only wake up afterwards... But I made my way to the toy aisle and there I started grumbling again about the price of toys, wondering if the kids would actually play with them.
So I found myself in the toy aisle.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a little guy, about 5 years old, holding a cute little doll to him...
He kept stroking her hair and holding her close.
I wondered who the doll was for.
Then the little boy turned to the lady beside him:
Auntie, are you sure I don't have enough money?
The lady replied impatiently:
You know you don't have enough money to buy it.
Then her aunt asked her to stay there and wait a few minutes.
Then she quickly left.
The little boy was still holding the doll.

Finally, I went over to him and asked him who he wanted to give the doll to.
It was the doll my little sister wanted more than anything else for Christmas. She was sure Santa would bring it to her.

So I told him he might bring it to her.

He replied sadly:
No, Santa can't go where my little sister is now... I have to give the doll to my mommy to take to her.
His eyes were so sad as he said this.
She's gone to be with Jesus. Dad says Mom will be going to Jesus soon too, so I thought she could take the doll with her and give it to my little sister.

My heart almost stopped beating.

The little boy looked up at me and said:
I told Dad to tell Mom not to leave just yet. I asked him to wait until I got back from the store.
Then he showed me a photo of himself taken in the store, on which he was holding the doll, saying:
I want Mommy to take this picture with her too, so she won't forget me.
I love my mommy and I don't want her to leave me, but Daddy says she has to go with my little sister.
Then he lowered his head and remained silent.

I rummaged in my handbag and pulled out a wad of bills:
Why don't we count your money one last time just to be sure?
Okay, " he said , ”I've got to have enough.

I slipped my money in with his and we started counting.
There was enough for the doll and then some.

Softly, the little boy murmured:
Thank you Jesus for giving me enough money.
Then he looked at me and said:
I had asked Jesus to arrange for me to have enough money to buy this doll so that my mom could bring it to my sister. He heard my prayer.
I also wanted to have enough money to buy a white rose for my mom, but I didn't dare ask him. But he gave me enough money to buy the doll and the white rose.
You know, my mom likes white roses so much...

A few minutes later, her aunt returned, and I pushed my basket away.
I finished my shopping trip in a completely different frame of mind from the one in which I'd started.
I couldn't forget the little boy.

Then I remembered an article that had appeared in the newspaper a few days earlier, about a drunk driver who had hit a car containing a young woman and her daughter.
The little girl died instantly and the mother was seriously injured.
The family had to decide whether to take her off the ventilator.

Was this the little boy's family? Two days later, I read in the newspaper that the young woman had died.

I couldn't resist buying a bouquet of white roses and going to the funeral parlour where the young lady was on display.

There she was, holding a pretty white rose in her hand, with the doll and the photo of the little boy in the store.
I left the salon crying, feeling that my life would change forever.
The love this little boy felt for his mommy and sister was so great, so incredible.
And in a split second, a drunk driver took it all away...