Friday, September 4, 2009

A blind man walked into a restaurant...

back to Chicago for one last time...as we finished our Toxo Family meal at the restaurant near Millennium park, I observed a trio of customers being led to their table. All 3 were chic and well-appointed and obviously European. The woman was well-made up and sported a beautiful head scarf, one gentleman was silver haired and well-dressed and the other was muscular, wearing conspicuously nice attire and carrying a long white cane. He was blind.

As we left our table, I whispered to my friend, Gemma, mother of Fin, "I'm going to introduce Zelda to that blind gentleman." I approached the table carrying Zelda and with aplomb said, "Excuse me for interrupting your meal but we just wanted to say Hello." They were extremely gracious. I placed my hand on the shoulder of the blind man and said, "I see that you walk with a long white cane." He proceeded to unfold his retractable cane and replied with a smile, "Oh, is it white?" The ice was broken. I introduced Zelda and told him that she was 3 1/2, learning French and Braille, and walked with a long white cane as well. He took her hand and kissed it. She leaned into his shoulder and patted him to get aquainted. The woman told us he had a PhD. His other friend chimed in, "And, he's a triathlete." We chatted just for a moment and I thanked them for their kindness and inspiration. Zelda said, "Au revoir."

There are little bits of magic out there and that was a moment that I will always cherish...

7 comments:

cd0103 said...

Oh my. How sweet.

Katy said...

Your story brought tears to my eyes. Thanks for sharing.

EllenNJ said...

What a beautiful story. Zelda's got a great mom...

Anonymous said...

I will always remember it too. Wet eyes x

Anonymous said...

Love it!

Vector 38 Illusions said...

cela me fait penser à un serveur (deli) au New Jersey; lui aussi, aveugle, étonne les clients avec ses dons et ses capacités quant à fonctionner dans un monde [visuel] ...

les "limites" ne sont visibles si nous ne les regardons ...

deborah d. lattimore said...

tu es magnifique, mon amie. xoxo