Broken Bag

I was walking to my car, holding two shopping bags filled with groceries, when I heard a loud
scream and a child’s cries. I saw a woman with a large grocery bag in one hand and a child’s
hand in the other fall to the ground. The child yelled, “Mommy. Mommy.

Groceries spilled out onto the pavement. Cars screeched to a halt. People began running toward
the woman and the child. I quickly stowed the groceries into my car, picked up a blanket, and
went to see if I could help. The area was a colossal mess of broken eggs, spilled liquids, apples,
oranges . . .

A woman ran into and out of the store with empty bags, handing them to people who’d begun to
pick up what was salvageable. A couple bent over the woman, trying to discern what had
happened and if she was hurt.

While this was happening, I knelt by the child, who looked to be about three, and told him my
name. I asked what his name was. Through his sobs he said, “Thomas.” I told him kind people
were taking care of his mommy. Since there were already a lot of people attending to the woman,
I gave him a tissue and asked if he’d like to sit on my blanket and hear a story. He nodded. We
sat. I told him a story, making him the hero.

One of the people offering to help, a doctor, determined she hadn’t broken anything and helped
her sit up. The woman, obviously embarrassed, kept saying thank you. In the time I told the
story, groceries had been picked up. Damaged goods replaced and put in her car. The area
cleaned up. No eggshells or broken glass remained.

I walked the boy to his mother who hugged him. He told her the story I’d told him. She and I
hugged. Two women deeply connected for a moment.

No one driving into the parking area could have known just minutes before there had been a
mess of splattered groceries, a woman lying on the ground, a sobbing child.
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How have you been helped when you least expected it?