Joshua

The mind of a child is amazing. They have such vivid imaginations. Perhaps their imaginations are real. Do I sound crazy? I most likely do, so let me explain from the beginning and a bit more in depth.

I’m a single parent. My son, Joshua, was five years old and was very close to my parents. Mom watched him each day so I could go to work. We lived with my parents because it made life easier. Dad was THE man. In Joshua’s early years, dad helped me change diapers, give bottles, play with, and teach my son. Dad had passed away two years ago, when Josh was two years old, and thankfully, they got to know each other before he passed. He was much too young to understand when dad passed. He never asked a question while he would look at his grandpa’s pictures. After dad’s passing, Joshua grew quite close to my mother. She did her best to do the things dad did with him, plus she would take him shopping, and spoil him with toys. I can’t say enough of how much he loved that!! Then mom got sick. She had cancer, and we had to make several trips to the doctors and hospital for chemo treatments. She passed four weeks ago. My little boy learned quickly and suddenly he felt the emptiness. He asked just one question. “Mom, where did grandpa and grandma go?” It’s not easy explaining death to a five year old, but I gave it my best shot, and actually shocked myself because it sounded as though my mother spoke from me. I said, “Joshua, we are all children of God. He gives us life, but when He calls us home to Heaven, we must go. So people go through a process that prepares them to do just that. It’s called sickness, and when the time comes, our bodies get so tired from fighting that we can no longer fight. We go home to God where we are well and strong again. No more sickness. Not ever!! Only love and a forever life. One day we will all be together again, but first we have to learn many things here.” I continued to tell him, “Your grandma always said we live in a very large school called Earth, where we have to learn how to love one another. The key to Heaven is unconditional love. That’s not so easy to learn.” My wise son said, “I love you mommy,” and wrapped his little arms around my neck and gave me a big hug. I told him, “I love you too Josh, but you can’t just love me alone. God wants you to love everyone.”

That September, he started Kindergarten. He met and made new friends. Each day, he came home with a new story to tell. One day, he came home a bit roughed up. He was in tears and a bit shaken. One of the boys started pushing him and hitting him. Why? Because the teacher asked Josh to pass out the papers in class. It was a matter of jealousy. So I said, “Joshua, how did you handle this? What did you do?” He said, “I handed him one of the papers and told him I loved him anyways.” In my life, I was never more proud of anyone. Talk about “turning the other cheek!”

What came next, brought tears to my eyes. Joshua walked over to the window. He let out a yell and said grandma and grandpa were walking across the front lawn holding hands. He actually saw them. They waved and blew a kiss to him, in approval of his behavior. Joshua smiled, waved back and blew each of them a kiss.