hope

"Hope" is the thing with feathers—

That perches in the soul—

And sings the tune without the words—

And never stops—at all—

-Emily Dickinson

On Sunday night, I had dinner at this little Mexican joint, La Rancherita; it sits downtown between Anna’s Pizzeria and The Rusty Bucket. The little pale yellow bakery that sells giant Kahlua crème horns is across the street. La Rancherita serves good food, and, if you’re watching, the place is full of interesting and fascinating people.  A lovely little family of four walked in, and caught my attention immediately. The tiny little girl was wearing a pretty blue knitted cap, and she picked out a seat in a booth far away from her family, and declared that this was where she wanted to sit. She was already adventurous and outspoken. The little boy wanted to have a seat facing a television so that he could, "watch sports;” but, he was carrying a little paperback book and immediately started drawing; he was a dreamer and an artist.

What I noticed instantly was that both parents were communicating with each other and with their kids. Not only were they communicating with words, but they were communicating with their body language. They were really and truly focused on each other and on their children. They were involved in what the kids were playing with, what they were interested in, and really hearing what they had to say. It was very refreshing to see this genuine human interaction. Not at any time, did either of them take out a phone, to look at, or take pictures with. They simply interacted with their children.

We live in a world where we are glued to our cell phones, causing an immeasurable amount of lost and missed human interactions. Repeatedly, I see children trying to capture their parent’s attention, but there’s clearly something more important in that lighted box, so the child is ignored, or told to stop and be quiet. Technology is great, except when it isn’t; and as a result of it, we are simultaneously so connected and so distant from one another.

But this little family gave me hope.