Saving Lightning

Earlier this week Deana B. and I took our babes to the park. Somehow, completely unknown to me, Joshua got out of the car with one of his toys. My sweet son often asks permission to take toys from home with us on our journeys in the car. I allow him this privilege with only one stipulation. And, that is . . . he cannot take the toy out of the car until we return home. So, when we run in Wal-Mart or go to, say for instance, the park, the toy must remain in the carseat waiting for us to return to it. Then, we drive home bringing it safely back to its designated, neatly organized bin. My husband calls me a toy Nazi. But, in my opinion, I have to be. If I don't the toys will rise up and overtake me, and I am not ready to let that happen.

I digress. . .

So, shortly after we got out of the car and began playing at the park, I noticed Joshua hurling something red into the air. "What was that?" I asked. "Lightning McQueen!" he answered running to find him. I shook my head realizing what he had done, but choosing my battles carefully decided to keep my mouth shut and let this one go. After several hours of play (and by play I mean that Joshua continued to do the same thing over and over - throw his little red car up in the air and then hunt for it in the grass), something devastating happened. I watched as Joshua threw Lightning McQueen (or Mr. Queen, as JCT calls him) up in the air one last time. As clearly as if it were in slow motion, good old Lightning fell down out of the sky and slipped between the grates of a drainage ditch falling down, down, down into the nasty mess that lies deep below. My son's face went instantly pale. "I. . .I. . . was just trying to throw him to the tree. . . and he went down between those bars. . . " I wanted to cry for him. "Mommy can you get it?" he asked. I told him that I could not. He was silent for quite some time. Deana and I just looked at each other. Joshua knelt down beside the grate staring at Lightening who was lying amidst the mud and leaves and water in the drainage ditch. His next statement. . .

"We gotta call Pop! We gotta tell Pop what happened to Lightning." The boy knows where to go when he needs help - grandparents. He's sharp like that. So, we played a bit more and then left. But, Joshua never forgot. He talked about it all evening. He told everyone he saw the whole story. As we drove home from church that night, he started to worry about Lightning. "But, Mommy what if it rains on Lightning? We can't just leave him there." Shortly after this thought came, "But, if it rains on him, he will grow into a flower. A big, Big, BIG Lightening Mc Queen flower!!!!" And, so the talk continued. . .

On Friday we dropped the boys off at the babysitter so that Erik and I could have a nice dinner alone. On our way out of town, Erik stopped at the park. Let me preface this by saying - my husband looked nice, date clothes an all.

Erik: "Show me where Lightning is."
Erin: "You can't get to him. There is a grate over the ditch. Besides, you are dressed up. . ."
Erik: "Just show me where he is."

So, I took him to the place, and through the leaves and yuckiness, you could still see a little spot of red. Erik lifts up the grate. I didn't know that you could do that? Anyway, in his dress clothes he jumps down into the ditch and rescues a very dirty Lightning McQueen. I have never been more proud of my husband, the hero. He lifted himself back out of the ditch, replaced the grate, and walked to the car (without a smidge of mud anywhere on him). What a man! We placed Lightning in a bag, all muddy as he was, so that Joshua would know without a doubt that this was his Lightning rescued from the ditch. We had not gone to the store and bought him a new one. No, that would have been too easy. His father had rescued his Lightning. An act, I assure you, of pure love and selflessness.

When we picked Joshua up and showed him Lightning, he could not have been more pleased. He hugged his Daddy over and over. He thanked him, and together they gave Lightning a bath in the sink. And, all the while, I kept reminding Joshua, "Your Daddy loves you so much, little man. He loves you so much to get down in that ditch and get Lightning for you!" And, Joshua would just smile, look at Lightning, and hug his Daddy's neck.