The World According To Chris Brewer

Here’s a short but somewhat heartwarming story of something that happened to me both yesterday and today.

Being in a war zone, we normally don’t see kids around. But on my way to and from chow over the past couple of days I have seen a mother walking with her child. Yesterday right outside our office there was a woman walking with her son, who had a severe deformity. His arms and legs were too short and it took him forever to walk ten feet…it was really a heartbreaking sight to see. But when I passed by, the boy lit up, stopped walking, waved and said “Hello sir!!!” I stopped for a second and said hello back. It actually made me sorry I didn’t know any Arabic.

Then today there was a woman walking beside her young daughter in nearly the exact same place as I saw the boy yesterday. I was carrying lunch back to the office today so my hands were full, but the girl lit up when I walked by and giggled, and she let out a excited “HI!” I stopped for a second, set my food down on the sidewalk and said hi back. She giggled as she reached her hand out and gave me a high-five. I pointed to myself and told her my name slowly: “Chris.” She told me hers (I can’t spell it and I don’t want to misspell it) in much the same way I did mine. Her mom looked down smiling and she said in broken English, “Thank you.” I got up, waved to them both, and walked away as tears came to my eyes.

The simple walk back from lunch and a chance encounter with two kids showed me though I have been doubting why I am here, just the smile of two children I briefly met showed me that there are many people around here who appreciate the coalition’s sacrifice and holds us in high regard, as we do them.

God bless you all today!!!