Tuesday, we took Joey to the aquarium. He's been talking a lot about sharks lately, and was very excited when told the possibility of seeing a real, live shark existed. And he loved it, he had fun, and it was awesome. At this particular aquarium, they have a tank full of gentle pajama sharks that they let you pet. Joey loved this and so did I, but that's not what I'm here to talk about.
I'm here to talk about a little boy who reached his whole arm in the water. A person I'm guessing is his dad was holding him up, and he couldn't have been more than two. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, and was tiny. I smiled at him, and as I watched a shark go by, he touched it. Then, this amazing look of unadulterated joy came across his face. It was the kind of look that doesn't happen much. I don't know that child. I don't know what he will grow up to be. I don't know whether he will believe in a god, whether he will fall in love, get married, have babies and treat them right. I don't know whether he will be president. I don't know what his parents believe, how they treat him, if they circumcised him. But in essence, through that moment, I know this child. I participated in a moment in his life that everyone ought to have a few more of, and it was beautiful.
Things like this moment make me aware of just how wonderful the world really is, and, when it seems so awful, I can just think of this little boy, all his dreams seeming fulfilled because he got to pet a shark.
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