Touching: A 6-year-old boy goes to nursing home with his mom and whispers "I love you, Grandma" into the ears of the women residents.

A Child's Gift

 


It is not fair to ask of others what you are unwilling to do yourself.

Eleanor Roosevelt


          About a year ago, I was volunteering at a home for elderly women. On this particularly day as I prepared to leave for the home, the telephone rang. For a fleeting moment I toyed with the idea of not answering it, but I ran back to the kitchen anyway.

          The call was from my husband, "Sorry, honey, but I have to work overtime. Guess you'll just have to pick up Taylor after school. I'll be home as soon as I can."

          Each week I set aside several hours to bring a little joy into the lives of the elderly women. Today I was bringing freshly cut red and yellow snapdragons and mammoth zinnias. As I gathered the bouquets up to carry them to the car, I decided that rather then find a baby sitter I would just take Taylor with me to visit with the residents.

          Accompanied by my unexpected companion, we started our rounds--with bundles of blossoms in my arms and Taylor at my side. After we visited the third or fourth room, I noticed that, just as we were ready to leave each room, my son would hug each woman and then whisper something into her ear. Because I wanted to make sure that we had enough time to visit all of the residents, I didn't stop to ask him what he was whispering; but he elicited a huge smile from every lady.
Later that evening, during dinner, my husband asked how my volunteer job worked out with our son in-tow.

          "It was actually lots of fun, " I said. We were quite a pair. Whatever Taylor said to the ladies, it definitely made them happy. As I stood up to clear the dishes, I stopped and glanced across the table at our son. "What was it that you whispered.?"

          Looking up at both his dad and me with his big brown eyes and angelic face, he responded, "I whispered I love you Grandma. And I just wanted you to know that you look soooooo beautiful today." I asked Taylor why he did that? He responded…"I just knew it would make them feel good."

Pamela Strome-Merewether


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