DR&KIDS

Daddy, Do You Have Time?

Every now and then my daughter will ask if I have time. For her, my having time means we do something together. For example, play a card game, or Snakes and Ladders Game among other things. This past Saturday as we were headed out to do some shopping with her, she asked if I had some free time later.

I laid out my plans of the day for her. Part of my plans included going to help a family friend who needed my assistance. My daughter (7 years old) realized my schedule was somewhat full. Noticing her disappointment, I asked her what she had in mind. Her answer surprised me.

“Daddy, it is okay, you can go help our family friend. You see, you will always have me…but you will not always have him! So, it is okay.” She added with a sad but convincing tone.

I felt my heart sink. At 7 years of age…I did not want my daughter to have to make such tough decisions just to fit in my busy schedule. Consequently, moving forward, I have resolved to make time on a regular basis to ‘just do their’ things. Not that I have not been doing it already…but now, it will be ‘my kids time in their own terms.’ Say a prayer for me…this is not going to be easy…

The following took place in a Cardiac Intensive Care Unit where our eldest daughter -Kui, was a patient. The nurse assigned to care for Kui was called Linda. On this particular day, the rest of the family had come to visit Kui and enjoy some much needed family time. Rita, our youngest daughter on getting to see her sister all connected to machines realized that she had some heart ‘challenges’ she was dealing with. That however did not dampen Rita’s spirit. She was her usual jovial and cordial self.

She quickly connected with Linda the nurse. They played cards games, shared jokes and more. Out the blue, Rita offered me a dollar to give to Linda our nurse saying…”Daddy, please give this dollar to Linda, I know she needs it.” My immediate reaction was to ignore Rita’s request and tell her to keep her dollar. More so, I was not about to embarrass Linda by offering her a dollar from a 6 year old child. In addition, I did not want to be mean to Rita…my mind battles were still going on when Rita and the rest of the family left to return back home.

I summoned all my courage and offered Linda the dollar. She turned it down out rightly. However, I reasoned with her telling her, it would be unkind to turn down a child’s act of kindness. she begrudgingly accepted the dollar. I thought nothing more about the incident. Linda however was very touched by the event. She made a ‘dollar heart’ and wrote the letter below to Rita.

Dear Rita

Thank you so much for your gift. I

really appreciate it and am so

touched by your kindness. In

return, I want to give you a dollar

back, but it is folded into a heart

so you will always remember me

by. Don’t worry, I will always keep

the dollar you gave me as a good

luck charm. Lastly, stay strong for

your big sister. You are doing

such a great job already.

                        Love,

                        Linda

I am surely glad, I let go the formalities and expectations of my current world…All these would not have happened if I had kept the dollar to avoid ‘inconveniences.’ Have a free day…