We were the only family with
children in the restaurant.
I sat Erik in a high chair
and noticed everyone was
quietly eating and talking.
Suddenly, Erik squealed
with glee and said,"Hi there."
He pounded his fat baby hands
on the high chair tray.
His eyes we crinkled in laughter
and his mouth was bared
in a toothless grin, as he wriggled
and giggled with merriment.

I looked around and saw
the source of his merriment.
It was a man whose pants were
were baggy with a zipper at
half-mast and his toes poked
out of would-be shoes.
His shirt was dirty and his hair
was uncombed and unwashed.
His whiskers were too short
to be called a beard and
his nose so varicose it
it looked like a road map.
We were too far from him to
smell, but I was sure he smelled. His hands waved and
flapped on loose wrists

"Hi there, baby; Hi there,
Hi there, big boy.
I see ya, buster,"
the man said to Erik.
My husband and I exchanged looks,
"What do we do?"
Erik continued to laugh
and answer, "Hi, hi there."

Everyone in the restaurant
noticed and looked at us
and then at the man.
The old geezer was creating
a nuisance with my beautiful baby.
Our meal came and the man
began shouting from across the room,
"Do ya patty cake?
Do you know peek-a-boo?
Hey, look, he knows peek-a-boo."

Nobody thought the old man was cute.
He was obviously drunk.
My husband and I were embarrassed.
We ate in silence;
all except for Erik, who was
running through his repertoire for
the admiring skid row bum,
who in turn, reciprocated
with his cute comments.

We finally got through the meal
and headed for the door.
My husband went to pay the
check and told me to meet
him in the parking lot.
"Lord, just let me out of
here before he speaks to me
or Erik," I prayed.

As I drew closer to the man,
I turned my back trying to
sidestep him and avoid any
air he might be breathing.
As I did, Erik leaned over my
arm reaching with both arms
in a baby's "pick-me-up" position.
Before I could stop him,
Erik had propelled himself
from my arms to the man's.

Suddenly a very old smelly man
and a very young baby consummated
their love relationship.
Erik in an act of total trust,
love, and submission laid
his tiny head upon the
man's ragged shoulder.
The man's eyes closed,
and I saw tears hover
beneath his lashes.
His aged hands full of grime,
pain, and hard labor, cradled
my baby's bottom and
stroked his back.
No two beings have ever loved
so deeply for so short a time.
I stood awestruck.

The old man rocked and
cradled Erik in his arms
and his eyes opened and
set squarely on mine.
He said in a firm
commanding voice,
"You take care of this baby."
Somehow I managed,
"I will," from a throat
that contained a stone.

He pried Erik from his chest
unwillingly, longingly, as
though he were in pain.
I received my baby,
and the man said,
"God bless you, ma'am, you've
given me my Christmas gift."
I said nothing more than
a muttered thank's.

With Erik in my arms,
I ran for the car.
My husband was wondering why
I was crying and holding
Erik so tightly,
and why I was saying,
"My God, my God, forgive me."

I had just witnessed Christ's
love shown through the
innocence of a tiny
child who saw no sin,
who made no judgment;
a child who saw a soul,
and a mother who saw
a suit of clothes.
I was a Christian who was blind,
holding a child who was not.
I felt it was God asking,
"Are you willing to share
your son for a moment?" when
He shared His for all eternity.

The ragged old man,
unwittingly, had reminded me,
"To enter the Kingdom of
God, we must become
as little children."

Author Unknown