Tender heart

Tonight was Art Gallery night at Kylee's elementary school. Wednesdays are also one of the busiest nights of the week with both Jim and I helping with AWANA at church. I told Kylee we likely wouldn't have time to make it to the art gallery, and didn't think much about it. Her own artwork wasn't being displayed, but pieces of art from the community were being auctioned off to raise money for the school. However, throughout the evening, Kylee was relentless in questioning me about the Art Gallery and it surprised me. When we made it home, we quickly started right in on our bedtime routine, with Jim putting the boys down and Ky doing her mini gym workout with me. Between handstands on the beam, she looked up at me and said, "So what about the Art Gallery? Do we have time to go?"

"No, Ky, I'm sorry, but it closed up before we even got home." I answered casually, not prepared for what came next. Tears. Lots of tears. So many tears that soon, her little shoulders were shaking. I scooped her into my arms and held her close. "Sweetie, what's wrong?"

"I wanted the kids in the wheelchairs to be able to play on the playground with us!" She sobbed. Between crying and catching her breath, she explained that the money earned was to be used for an apparatus to help handicapped children utilize the playground. I hadn't known. Tears burst from my own eyes and there we sat together, holding one another on the basement steps crying - Ky because she was afraid the special children in the classroom next to hers wouldn't get to play on the playground with her, and me because of the tender heart of my precious little girl.