I write about my daughter Berit often but there is another little one in my life that is just as important.
Many of you know I was the nanny to a little boy named Charlie during my senior year of college.
I continued to babysit him every day and soon the Sappingtons were my family.
From dinners to spending the nights to playing in MeMaw's yard, I was always welcome at their home and table.
Now, that little boy is not so little and stands tall at 8-years-old with a love for Spiderman, pizza, and comic books.Charlie calls Berit his sister and loves her better than any big brother ever could.
I've had the blessing of seeing sweet Charlie grow into a very kind person over the last 8 years and yesterday was no different.
As a picked him up from his house for Vacation Bible School, he walked outside and asked, "Can we go to Andy's?"
Andy's is the convenience store right down from his house and across from the DSU Library.
I had that "no" on the tip of my tongue.
No not today.
No not this time.
No, we've got to go to VBS, aren't you excited?
But I realized Charlie hadn't finished his sentence.
"Can we go to Andy's so I can give money to the children with cancer?"
I literally put my hand to my chest because I was so taken aback at what he said.
His grandmother said, "He's been going by every single day."
With a fistful of change and a dollar bill from his grandfather, we were off.
Normally, I'd expect to go in a store with a little kid and be asked to buy a dozen different snacks.
However, Charlie said he could handle it on his own so I watched this sweet 8 year old get out of the car, walk to the door and take the time to stop and speak to another little boy in a baseball uniform.
He held open the door for them, high fived the boy, then went inside.
It only took a moment.
He didn't purchase anything with the money and gave it all to the charity cup that sits on the counter in the store before coming back to the car and asking that I play "You're Welcome" by Dwayne Johnson from Moana so we could sing loudly.
We jammed all the way to VBS but I thought more about his heart and how kind his gesture was.
As I think back on how sweet that act of kindness was, and the many others he's done in just 8 years of life I'm absolutely inspired.
I learned long ago that he was named Charlie because, "Charlie just sounds like someone that you would want to be your friend."
I couldn't think of truer words.
I absolutely want Charlie as my friend and I'm blessed that he's my bestest friend and favoritist person and I'm his.
As adults, I think we forget how easy it is to be kind as we go through the motions of life.
How easy it is to grab a few nickels from your car for the donation cup at the convenience store.
And how a single high-five as you walk through a door can change someone's entire day.
So, as I finish out the rest of my week, I pray I can be just like my friend Charlie.
Giving. Loving. And the bestest friend.
This first appeared in The Bolivar Commercial.
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