Posted on 12/23/2007 9:38:29 PM PST by redrock
As I sat on the bus watching the end of the train platform I noticed a couple of things. One…Lloyd was there with Angel in his arms(as always)…many multicolored balloons attached to her body (it was Angel’s Birthday…one of many throughout the year).
…and he was standing on the end of the platform alone. All of the other people had fled to the other end….somewhat frightened by Lloyd…his face twisted into a perpetual scowl with all of the burn and scar tissue (and a result of the medication to prevent the seizures)…forever holding in his arms…. a toy 2 foot tall doll….dressed exactly as he was….even down to the glasses, coat and shoes.
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When you first meet Lloyd…..it’s kind of a shock. You don’t really know what to think . 6 foot tall…big guy… his face , framed with black frame glasses..lenses an inch thick, frozen in some strange grimace…..carrying around a small doll who he talks to….and afterwards goes silent for a moment as if listening to an answer or question from the doll.
And perhaps the biggest shocker is that the doll is ALWAYS dressed just like him. Exactly like him.
…and yet somehow you sense the sadness there…always just beneath the surface. Always there…yet unable to be articulated by him…or by Angel.(the doll)
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You can get into a conversation with him. He seems to understand some things…like going to work…the weather…general small-talk.
He goes to work….although it’s just a simple menial job.
He has problems with his memory…he can’t remember very far back in his life….maybe around 7-8 years is all. Which , when you look at it, is probably a Blessing.
He gets lost sometimes…takes the wrong bus and ends up in the wrong place and has to be gently given new directions to get home.
To the place he lives in.
With Angel.
…and yet….there is more….
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In a few days most of us will be Celebrating the Birth of a Child long ago in another land. A Birth that, when you get right down to it, is among the most important events to ever have happened in the history of the world.
Sure…some will try and deny the Birth of that Child…..try and make it difficult to Celebrate the joyous occasion.
They will insist that we change the name of the Holiday in order not to hurt anyone’s feelings.
They will insist that we change our greetings to suggest something other than a celebration of that Child.
They will insist that we not display images of that Birth (or the Man that He grew to be) on public property....and try and discourage us from private display.
They will try and get us to change the very nature of our Celebration…..and try and substitute the notion that it’s just a ‘end-of-the-year’ type holiday. That it’s just a time to buy gifts for everyone….without thinking in any way about the Gift that was given us.
The Birth of a Child.
They will tell you that none of it exists. That there is no God and that the Birth of a Child never happened…and if it did….means nothing.
Which brings us back to Lloyd….and of course…..Angel.
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It was Christmas Eve….just around 8 years ago that a young man and his family was driving down a long stretch of highway…trying to get back home.
It was a fairly normal year around here for winter. Some snow….and some ice. I guess the black ice that night was pretty bad…because even tho' Lloyd was a good driver….an accident happened and his car, with his family, went off the road and rolled and rolled.
His wife was killed instantly…but his daughter (almost 5) and him were thrown free of the car.
It takes a while to bleed to death when it’s cold…and it was cold that night. I guess it took almost ten minutes for his daughter to die….and as she did so…he laid there on the ground, suffering massive head trauma himself, watching her…holding her in his arms.
(Lloyd suffered a major brain injury. Lost most his memory and his life that night. The medication that he has to take has taken away pretty much what was left of his memory.
…and yet….he’s always kinda smiling.)
His relatives have told me that when the ambulance finally arrived…they found him holding the body of his small daughter…gently crying..and saying over and over again that it was ok.
His Angel was with him.
Lloyd himself will tell you that when he was hurt (“hurt real bad”)…a little girl got up and became his Angel…..telling him that everything was going to be OK.
…and yet there’s more.
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There are people in the world who will tell you that it doesn’t exist. God…Angels…Jesus…the Afterlife. They will tell you that it is all just someone’s imagination and that it’s all tied up with greed and lies. They will tell you that Christmas is just some pagan holiday that early Christians took over .
They will tell you that there is no life after this one…that all of your Beliefs are based on lies.
Don’t believe them.
Which brings us back to Lloyd.
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For you see…..I’ve seen Lloyd many times around town.
..and you will see many move away from him and his disfigured body and face.
Always walking in his stumbling way, dragging a leg hurt in the wreck, carrying a small doll in his arms…always (always) dressed exactly like him.
And, if you look real close , attached to his side….holding his hand …is a small young child.
A little girl…around 5 years of age.
Blond hair….wearing a dress and ‘church shoes’.
Holding on to her daddy….watching over him….keeping him safe…until the day comes when his brain is made whole…and his heart healed.
His ‘Angel’.
Mike
Tahnks for the post and the ping, redrock.
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
A woefully sad, but beautiful story.
Hi Mike ~ thank the girls!
Barb and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!
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