Soul Buddies
I have a “little buddy”, a ”special friend,” who has been given to me at this juncture in my life. I sense that we both know that we have something special in our relationship but we don’t question it, we just enjoy.
I remember the day it all started. He was about five months old. It was Mother’s Day. I had just gone to church with him, his Mom, and his Grammy. After the service his Mom and Grammy said, “If you really want to do something for us this Mother’s Day, how about taking Connor for an hour so we can have some mother-daughter time alone.” They finished their request with, “Oh yes, we’d like you to make us some potato pancakes too.” (I make good potato pancakes)
So here I was. I set Connor in his little seat, (the kind that babies sit in that you can move from car to house), on my kitchen table and started to make potato pancakes. As I began to prepare the ingredients, Connor started to fuss so I’d go over to comfort him. This happened quite a few times in the process. He was just out of arms-reach when I was at the stove, so each time I’d turn the stove off to be with him for a while. Finally I thought that maybe some music would help, so I put some on. This did seem to work as I danced, and sang as I cooked, to keep him amused.
At one point I found myself standing in front of him and singing the words of one of Celine Dione’s songs, “I’m Your Angel.” As I sang the words “I will be your angel” I felt the words become real and God asking me to “watch over him.” I looked into his little eyes and I felt our souls connect.
Something changed that day, and people could see the difference, And would say, “I don’t know what you guys have, but you have a special connection.” There were times after that when we would be in a room filled with people and Connor would be at one end and I at the other. When he looked over and we made eye contact I would look into his little eyes and let him know how much I loved him. The next thing I knew, he was making his way across the room, holding onto everything in sight, until he reached me. We’d make contact and he’d start his journey all the way back. This happened more than once.
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Well, it’s been over five years since that time and we have many memories that support our connection to each other. It’s a thing we’ve learned to call “Buddy Power”; that extra measure of blessing that we receive whenever we’re together.
Last summer we were out biking with Grammy. Connor was riding one of those third wheel bikes that attaches to the seat post on my bike. The day before Grammy had related to me an incident when he was saying his nighttime prayers with her. She asked him if he thought that he should pray for his future cousins, the result of his Auntie Kiki’s marriage to her fiancé who had three children, to which Connor responded that they really weren’t a part of the family yet.
“We pray for others who aren't part of our family,” replied Grammy.
“What do you mean?” said Connor.
“Well Papa Tom is not really a part of our family and we pray for him.”
“You mean he’s not blood?”
I guess he always just figured I was. Grammy had told me how upset he was finding this out so I thought I’d bring up the subject while we were riding. I assured him that God can give two people a special relationship as strong if not stronger than blood.
“I know Papa,” he said. “I chose you.”
“Yeah, I know, I chose you too Connor,” I said.
“No Papa,” he said firmly. “I chose you. I chose you before I was born. I chose you when I was in my Mommy’s belly.”
“ You probably did, Connor,” I said, knowing the depth of our relationship and remembering back to that day making potato pancakes on Mother’s Day.
.