How Bad Do You Wanna Know?

The Yahoos and I went up to Denver today
to Cherry Creek Mall...
we'd never been there,
no not in the 13+ years we've lived in Colorado.
Never.

The only store I loved was
Anthropologie.
So. cute.

But that's not what I wanna share.

So we're sitting on a garden wall
waiting for some of our gang
to come out of Urban Outfitters
and some of our gang
to come back from the Loo--
when I look down the way a bit
to see a very very elderly man
slowly shuffling his way towards
our end of the Mall.

His steps are teeny tiny baby steps,
his arms are swinging in unison,
as tho he is using them to push him along.

I whisper to Daisie so she can notice him too.
She has been very much a 14-going-on-fifteen-year-old
lately...
you know what I'm talking about:
self-absorbed, curt, whiny, some moments I am
exasperated by her--
I wanted her to see something real--
someone whose struggles
were on the outside
easy to see
and perhaps sympathize.

She watched his motions
as his path crossed right in front of us,
her heart melted,
she said,
"I wonder if he needs help?"
I looked into her eyes
and said,
"How bad do you wanna know?"

She winced for a moment--
thought about it,
then stood up
and walked over to him--
immediately the rest of my yahoos' eyes
were fixed on their sister.
They hadn't heard our conversation
but they had certainly seen the man.
When Daisie got to him,
his eyes lit up
a broad smile surfaced on his lips
and I heard him say to her
request,
"God bless you.
God bless you.
God bless you."
-- in broken english.
And he put one of his arms on her shoulder,
looking deep into her eyes.
He shook his head no
and kept shuffling
until he was outta sight.

When she returned to me,
her eyes met mine
and we both teared-up.
I told her I was so proud of her
and hugged her guts!


She said it reminded her of some show she had seen
where an actor
pretended to need help
to see who would step up and offer it.

I told her it reminded me of the Savior
who said,
"Inasmuch as ye have
done it unto the least of these,
my brethren,
ye have done it unto me."