I had a few minutes open up in my afternoon today. They happened to correspond with the time my wife was taking Charlie and the little girl she watches to the local park. So I zipped over to the park to see if I could catch up with them.
As I walked into the park, Kim had her back to me, pushing the little girl on a swing. Charlie was across the play area near a bench, so I walked around the play area, thinking that I would surprise them. I managed to walk right up to Charlie without Kim catching sight of me. Naturally, he was excited to see me and moved my way. I bent down to hug him, which is when Kim turned around to check on him.
She had no idea who was leaning over her son. Her first thought was that Charlie had fallen and that I was some kind stranger helping him recover. In the next split second her insides got a little weirded out. She started to go into Mama Bear mode and moved toward me.
That’s when I stood up and smiled at her, and she let out this loud, “Whew!” kind of breath.
I’m not sure what she would have done if I had really been a stranger, but I don’t think it would have fallen in the biblical category of showing strangers hospitality!
All things ended well, though, as I got to take Charlie’s shoes and socks off to let him dip his toes body into a chilly Spring Creek. The boy loves to play outside, and he has all the early indicators of a water bug. I think we’re going to have loads of fun together!
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