a little Mexican girl was walking down the sidewalk with her Abuelita
they stopped next door to admire a front lawn fairyland
created by the children who live in the home
i smiled at both of them and said hi
her warm brown eyes smiled back
her Abuelita diligently watching over her ~ carried a heavy vacuum cleaner
with a long hose (possibly coming from a job and going to the next one)
she guided her granddaughter’s tiny steps
i said hi & told them to wait a minute
i ran inside to look for a present
tore into my art bag and found a brand new pink bubble wand
grabbed it & ran to the sidewalk
broke open the seal ~ pulled out the wand

i began to blow big bubbles ~ her face lit up
i reached out, gave her the bubble wand & asked her name
she smiled & responded softly, “America!”
as she walked away wearing an ear-to-ear smile
she continued blowing magic bubbles all the way down the street
her grandma smiling ~ still carrying the heavy vacuum cleaner
with the long hose
bubbles lilted all around them lighting up both their hearts

i blessed them & gave thanks for:
“America” to be walking freely with her Abuelita, on a residential street in California
they were not locked up in a concentration camp because of their ethnic background
they were both free to enjoy a fairyland created by little children
a little girl received a magic pink bubble wand just for being who she is
this little girl was proudly wearing the name of a country currently circumstantially providing her all these opportunities of freedom