The Boy with Little Arms
by HRM Deborah
I am thinking I was maybe ten years old at the time, when I use to go to my grandfather’s home and in those days children sometimes played American baseball in the street; on the fringe of what was called, the old neighborhood. All the children that wished too in the whole neighborhood would come and we would split into teams to play this game.
One day a boy that was living with his grandparents just a little down the street from my grandfather, came and asked to join in on the game.
What was different about this boy is he had no hands and maybe three quarter’s of his arms. He happened to been born this way and what was rather sad, his parents who where American Christian did not want him because the way he was born; so he lived with his grandparents who loved him dearly. Which in an experience that was to come later, I learned his grandparents where very nice people.
The rest of the children were mostly Jewish and Muslim, which in those days one either did not think about ones religion or it was just more important that the one standing in front of you was just a person and not like it seems to be some places these days.
Nevertheless, all of us children got together and decided if this meant so much to him, we would let him join into our fun. A couple of the children were wondering how he could play without hands and I mentioned that we would find out.
To our surprise he actually could play amazingly good, he was even a remarkable batter and to this day, I still am not sure how he was able to do this with such skill.
Because I was the one that had asked the other children if it was a good idea for him to play, this boy with little arms came upon himself to be my friend. We actually became very good friends, especially when he found that playing with all of us made him so happy and he stopped feeling left out in the world around him. As for all of us, we were happy too!
Because I was the one that suggested him playing, he considered me his very first friend; for he had never had a friend before.
The Sharing Song To care and share with each other, makes the whole world happy!
