It was already dark when Amy and Heath got home. I had told Hallie we were going for a walk and she already had her shoes on, having struggled into her pink velvet boots, which weren’t the shoes I would have picked, but in Hallie’s world they worked.
When Heath got home, he was excited. We had told him about the shopkeeper down the street who had been beaten a few days ago by a man shouting “I kill Muslims.” The Giving Tree, our local yoga studio, had organized a meditation for peace, and we thought we should stop by.
On our way, Amy and I went over the meaning of meditation, leaning heavily on the fact that it would be quiet, and we should do our best to keep it that way. Heath continued walking, happily bopping along, seemingly oblivious to all I had just said.
“Heath. Heath.”
“What?”
“Did you hear what I just said?”
“Yeah.”
“What did I say.”
“We have to be quiet. I got it, I got it.”
The crowd was small, forming a circle on the corner in front of the store. Seven or eight people sat on the sidewalk meditating. A few dozen others stood around quietly, some holding candles. Hallie was up on my shoulders and I rocked slowly from side to side as she took it all in. Occasionally she would say, “Wow.” One of the women on the ground smiled.
For about two minutes it was really nice. Then Hallie wanted down. So I ran her around a bit off to the side, where we wouldn’t disturb anyone, and we quietly took the kids inside for a treat. Cookies, chips and crackers were gathered, and as we were digging around for our money, Heath stepped to the counter and said, “I’m sorry for what happened to you guys. I hope you’re OK.”
The shopkeeper looked at Heath for a moment, then touched his heart, assured him they were OK, put his palms together and bowed.
Heath then said he couldn’t believe anyone would do something so horrible and started into a rant about the generally shoddy condition of humanity, which confused the man, and Amy had to step in. But for a moment there, he had really nailed it.
Walking home, I told him I was proud.
“Why?”
“Because you spoke eloquently, and you spoke from the heart.”
He thought about that for a moment, and then said “Oh. OK,” before moving on, heading towards home, seemingly oblivious to all I had just said.
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