It’s 9:00 in the morning, Starbucks is open, and the mall is beckoning us. I bust out our new handy-dandy
handicap placard and park about 10 feet away from the mall entrance. It’s raining, so I run and put Maddie’s walker
under the awning in front of the mall and then run back and get her.
I get Maddie into her walker and first things first, I must get a Mocha at Starbucks. Once in Starbucks,
I realize that Madison is extremely motivated to get to something but I can’t figure out what it is. As I am ordering
my drink, I see her hone in on her discovery, make about four amazing steps, and snag the bright green piece of chewing gum
that is stuck under the counter - right at her eye level. I intercepted her prize within seconds of the snag and immediately
got out the Purell - at least it got her moving!
Coffee in hand, I plant myself on a bench and let her mill about. She spots the Madeline cookies I bought
for her, and yet another motivation (not bribary!) is in play. She’s not moving much, but at least she is happy. None
of the stores are open yet, but she is having fun watching the "mall walkers" with their sneakers donned and plugged into
their I-pods.
She discovers the tarps covering those portable stores that are in the middle of the mall. No harm there
- I let her play with them.
One of the mall walkers sits down on the bench near me and I realize I recognize him. He’s a nice
old man who is always at the coffee shop I frequent. Realizing we kind of know each other, we say hello and chit chat a bit.
His name is Dave and I learned all about his Roadsters Club. He notices Madison, and doesn’t quite know what to say.
I introduce them and then eventually tell him she is getting her morning exercise, also, and explain a little bit about her
and her walker. I could tell he was interested in her, but didn’t know quite what to say. He said he thought she was
beautiful. I agreed.
Dave had to go. Quickly thereafter, a lady came up to me almost in tears and told me how amazing my daughter
was. She was a bit emotional, but quite nice. She was talking to Madison (got down on her level and actually looked her in
the eye, which I always appreciate) and then starting cheering her on. Cool, I think. I get to take a little break. She started
telling me about a little two year old boy she knows who is wheel-chair bound. Sure enough, she was talking about Jake, Maddie’s
little friend whom she goes to preschool with. I’m once again reminded of our amazing small world.
The time quickly passed talking to this gal, but then she had to go.
A few moments later, we run into a family we know from Savannah’s gymnastics. I had talked to the
little girl about Madison before (when she asked me what is wrong with Madison and why she had to use that purple thing) and
she proceeded to tell her mom and sister precisely why Maddie was in a walker - "her muscles don’t work quite right,
but this will help her learn how to walk".
After that quick adorable encounter, I had the good luck to run into a good friend and her two girls. Feeling
a little relieved to talk to someone I actually really knew, we got to chit chat and catch up for a bit, while her two girls
entertained Madison.
By this time, we had made it all the way to the water fountain - our original goal we set forth. It had
been an hour, but Madison worked very hard to make it those 50 feet! On our way back to the door, my new friend Dave approaches
us with some candy hearts he had just bought from See’s Candy. Asking if Maddie could have chocolate, he gave me two
beautiful chocolate hearts with a tear in his eye. I couldn’t have been more touched.
We had a few more minutes before we had to get going, so I decided to stop into Stride Rite, and take one
more go at getting some shoes fitted over Maddie’s braces. The special shoes we order do not come in white, and we needed
something for the approaching Spring season and all of those cute little dresses! After 10 pairs of shoes, 45 minutes, and
an extra hole punch in the straps, we depart Stride Rite with a perfect pair of sandals that fit just fine over the bulky
braces.
With Maddie’s braces now off, and a bit of a tired and cranky girl on my hands, I wasn’t sure
how I was going to make it to the car. Reading my mind, the gal at the shoe store asks if she could help us out. Trying to
be humble, I tell her I can manage just fine, but fortunately she insisted and we were escorted back to the car.
We have had many subsequent mall trips since this first one, and I am always struck by the kindness and
compassion of the people we encounter. No trip has been as special as this first one, but we always seem to have at least
a few heartwarming encounters each trip. From the guy at the mattress store bringing her a balloon, to the gal at the pretzel
place who brought us a handful of pennies to throw in the fountain when she realized we were all out, I feel very lucky to
live amongst the kindness of strangers.
