Back
to Wisdom Art
HOME
More
Images
|
|
Angel Mother & Baby
Continued from Inspirational
Images
In the seconds that it took for the woman to fold up the baby’s
stroller, I checked out the package I clutched. He or she was
miniature and dressed in a light-blue, hooded snowsuit even though it
was an Indian summer day. I thought, “Is this a baby or a doll?” I
turned the child in my arms and saw a little brown face inside the hood.
He or she was real, eyes alert and alive. The woman gestured to me,
bringing me out of my stare-fest and waved me on to the bus She
didn’t even glance back at me to assure I was following with her
valuable bundle.
The bus driver smiled and waited patiently for us to ascend the steps of
the bus. I was the blonde working woman, and she the dark, maybe
Mexican, working woman. I handed the baby back to her and swiped my
MetroCard through the machine to pay my fare. Then I swiped the
MetroCard she handed me for her fare. As I turned to return the card to
her she was ready with both baby and stroller in hand to start heading
for a seat. As quickly as it began, our short relationship, our
bus-riding partnership ended.
She made her way to the back of the bus. I sat midway and could see a
large friendly African-American man passenger smiling at the woman
saying, “Oh, no, no, I don’t really know how to hold babies.” He
helped her arrange the stroller and sat down. Then she turned to read El
Diario, a Spanish-language New York City newspaper.
Angel Mother and baby were again on their own. They would eventually
meet another passerby who, like me, might wonder who was really helping
who. Mother and baby gave me something better than physical power
that day, they gave me a human connection.
© Beth Sax, November, 2001 |