A Single Blue Balloon

We were invited to a birthday party today at one of the area roller rinks. Alyssa loves to rollerskate and Olivia can be heard announcing many times around the rink that she's an excellent skater herself.

The family that hosted the party is lovely. They have two girls who are similar in age to Alyssa and Olivia. Alyssa and J were in kindergarten together and J's mom and I clicked that year.

Even though A and O attend a different school these days, we've stayed close with the family.

The party was three and a half hours long, which, when you're rollerskating, flies by.

As we left, all the kids were given a balloon.

Olivia chose red, of course and Alyssa got her favorite, blue.

We were in our car, ready to leave when the birthday girl and her family began loading their van.

The little sister, A handed her balloon to her dad so she could climb into the van. I'm not sure how it happened, but her balloon popped. And she lost her sweet little mind.

She was already so tired and this was the last straw.

Alyssa, Olivia and I watched as A's mom picked her up, trying to console her. There was no way that little girl was going to be okay with this event, not in the near future.

I looked in the rearview mirror and caught Alyssa's eye. Without a word from me or her, she nodded and handed me her balloon.

I got out and offered A Alyssa's blue balloon. At first, A backed away, shaking her head. But then she realized what we were offering and she took the balloon. She was still unhappy, but I could tell that the episode was going to end much sooner now that she had a balloon in her hand.

J asked if Alyssa didn't want her balloon. Alyssa called from the car (because she'll speak to her peers but not her peers' parents) "I want it, but I know she wants it more."

That moment...it brought tears to my eyes. It made me prouder of my girl than I think I've ever been. Her compassion, her love of others, her selflessness. Her maturity in knowing that her single blue balloon meant more to that poor, tired six year old than it meant to her...wow. Some people never reach that level of wisdom.

And because balloons are fragile things, O's red balloon popped the minute we pulled into the driveway. And her response? Laughter. My girls are absolutely going to be just fine.