There's a little girl at Matthew's school - she's about 7, maybe 8. ALWAYS wears pink. I've seen her marching by with her class, in the yard, milling about: laughing.
Always laughing.
Her cheeks are pale though. And a little bit puffy. Still, she is gorgeous.
At pick-up this afternoon, I watched her walking out to her Mum's minivan, having tumbled from the school laughing, without her hat. It's pink, of course. And usually covers her head quite well because until today, I hadn't noticed that she is entirely bald.
"Leukemia", a mother I don't know breathed into the air as she moved past me. "So sad."
I watched Pinky - watched her amble happily about, watched her mother, gazing at her daughter with the gentlest smile on her face. Saw Pinky's brother draw alongside the van and get a good-natured swat from his sister for making them wait and then they were climbing in and then they were gone.
Guess who Pinky's brother is?
Yep.
William, Sweet William.
(Insert not-yet-created emoticon here: rueful, contemplative, sad smiley)
And sometimes, my friends, the universe delivers a swift and just kick to those of us who might be complacent and a teensy bit too smug about the world and our place in it. (read: Me)
Kiss your kids. Hug your kids. Thank GOD that ours are well and whole. Thank GOD that the ones who aren't but who are surviving, whose brothers are called William, continue to laugh because it's sunny, because there is pink, because there is life. Because.
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