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The Kindergartner Down the Road
My Efforts at World Peace Come Slowly and in the Moment
I knocked on the door and got no response. Then I rang the bell and the family appeared, smiling and seeming happy to see me.
I smiled, and then hung my head as the emotions welled up inside of me. Then I spoke the words that felt right, in that moment.
“I’m so very sorry. About what happened in Atlanta, I am sorry.”
The father whispered something and the mother answered him in Chinese. The sister remained silent.
“Ah, yes,” he said and I raised up to meet his gaze.
In that moment a thousand thoughts and words were silently exchanged between us, and I knew they would be alright.
It might have been his tiny-toothed grin and high energy level, or perhaps it was growing weary of dealing with the pandemic, or maybe it was because I have not been around young children for a year. But whatever the reason, the little boy down the street and on the other side of the road made my heart smile. I walked the dogs each afternoon around 4 and he was almost always there. His older sister, initially mistaken by me to be his mother would nod her silent approval of our interactions. At first, it was just a wave and a “Hi” coming out of my single-layered mask…
