Compassion

I am surprised at how much compassion a 2 year old can have.

The mother of a friend of ours recently died. The viewing was on Sunday. We were taking Julia along with us. All morning we talked about how Uncle Barry's mom got sick and died, so now Uncle Barry is sad and we are going to go make him feel better. (I am not sure how he got the "uncle" on his name, but that is what Julia calls him). So all Julia talked about that day was going to see Uncle Barry and make him feel better.

It so happened that Julia fell asleep in the car 10 minutes before we got to the funeral home, slept through the viewing in Jerrod's arms, and slept the entire way home. She did not wake up until we pulled back into our driveway. She asked about seeing Uncle Barry and we told her we already did and she slept through it. She started crying about this. She was so upset that she missed seeing Uncle Barry and making him feeling better. We explained we would see him again soon.

So everyday this week, sometimes multiple times a day, she asks about seeing Uncle Barry again.

Monday evening Julia and I stopped at the store and picked up a card and plant to give to Uncle Barry the next time we see him. When I told her the card was for Uncle Barry, she told me that "Uncle Barry's mom got sick and he is sad.". I explained to her that was right, his mom got sick and died and he was sad. She also helped pick out the plant for him. Right now the plant is sitting on the front porch until we see him. (our cats would eat it up if I brought it in the house!) So every time we go outside, so points to the plant and says it is for Uncle Barry to make him feel better.