What Can You Do?

Nobody Flashes: What do you do?

My husband and I went to take the dogs out for a walk tonight. It was going on around 8:45 p.m. and as we rounded the corner, Buster, our neighbors dog came running up.

Now, we always worry about Buster. He's quite friendly, but he loves to get out of his fenced-in back yard and the owners don't seem to care. I'm always afraid that he will be hit by a car someday. He zigs and zags all up and down the street just having a grand old time.

And then I heard a child crying. I looked up on our neighbors front porch, and there was Daniel, who is about three-years old. Crying. Sitting in the dark. No one around.

Now, I know these neighbors. The poor mom lost her very young husband to lung cancer about two years ago, and even though she has family, and church friends, she also has two teenage children to support, and I've been noticing lately, that little tiny Daniel has been playing alone out in the front of his house...after dark...a lot. Mom is never out front watching him.

I made my husband take the dogs, and I went up to little Daniel and asked him what was wrong.

Of course my husband was "mad" that I did this.

"My mom left, she went for a walk. I don't know where she is..." he said, while crying. Understand, this kid has just learned how to talk.

Somehow I got out of him that his "brother" was home, asleep in the house. So I told him, his mother, I'm sure would be back, and let's go wake up his brother...but then the kid started crying even harder. Noooo...don't wake him up.

Now, what do you do? Here's a child, left alone, in his front yard...worried about his mom walking off into the night, and he is afraid of his "brother" who won't give him anything.

Whatever that means.

My husband said "We should call the police." But, I thought that was a little drastic. After all, maybe mom just had a bad day, and went off for whatever reason. Still, I was having trouble leaving this crying kid, sitting in the dark, while the dog ran all over the street.

So, I went next door to her neighbor, who told me that the kid was often alone, but she thought he was a "brat" because the kid would poke at her dog in the back yard and cause him to bark. She went over to the porch and basically pushed the kid inside.

Obviously, she was mad also that I was so...worried.

Anyway, I suppose that is exactly what I should have done. But I tell you what--- I was more worried about the mom. What if something had happened to her? What if life is just overwhelming her...as it does all of us. I can't imagine trying to raise three kids alone. Why didn't the mother leave the kid with a responsible person, at least? And it was a Friday night...I was beginning to wonder if anyone was home...if the kid was told just to say that.

Okay, we came home. My husband was in a bad mood because I am such a "softie" when it comes to little kids.

But what do you do? I mean, I WAS on their property.

Well, it's over now. I have often let the mother know that I am always there if she wanted to talk. But, most people don't want to. We don't share our problems...we almost can't anymore, unless it's a total stranger.

All we can do is pray, which I will do tonight. This woman desperately needs a new husband. She needs help.

Please God---no little boy of three should be wondering where mom is after dark. His dad never came back---in his little mind, maybe his mother won't either.

What can you do?

By the way, this is not a picture of Daniel or Buster...but it's pretty close.

Sometimes all you can do, is pray.