Legos

I know it's been forever since I last wrote, but better late than never!

This is a story about Legos, lost children, and the vulgarities of life.

First the Legos. Will loves Legos and builds some pretty complex figures from them. When I bought him a small package today, never did I dream it would take us on a journey halfway around the world and a past I can't imagine.

Oh, it all started innocently enough, Will building his project. Me complementing him on it. He asked if I had Legos when I was little and I told him no they didn't have Legos then, I just played with rocks and sticks (they didn't have fire yet either, LOL!). He told me he had lots of Legos, which surprised me because he said they had no toys at the orphanage. So I asked him about that and he replied this was before the orphanage.

Mind you, he was about 4 years old when he was found on a bench, so memories are probably still there. He said he had a Mama, but no father, no sisters or brothers. He fell asleep on the bench and "Mama run away. I hungry, someone find me. I go in van to place (he didn't know the word orphanage) with many kids." Maybe the saddest part is the resignation the story is told with. Not much feeling involved, just another child abandoned. He must have heard this same story told how many times by other children in the same situation. In China this is the norm. Children left without hope for a future, a society without conscious.

So I don't think I'll ever look at a Lego again without a touch of melancholy and vision of a land far away. A vision of a Mother giving away the toys of a son no longer hers.