Like most Sundays of late, I found myself at my favorite coffee shop. As I stepped in line I noticed an old friend and coworker sitting at a table with her partner and their sweet baby son. I ordered my drink and walked over to say hello. I gave her a hug and began to catch up as her partner walked back over to the table carrying the baby. I had never met the sweet boy before; the one time I had ran into the couple, he had been sleeping. Yet, the baby’s eyes got bright and his face returned the smile I had on mine. His little hand reached toward me as he leaned my way out of his father’s arms. His father handed him to me with surprise as the boy’s mother looked on curiously.
“We like Katie, too,” she said to the child, and then to me, “He doesn’t normally do this with people. He’s usually reserved.”
I held the baby, head covered with dark brown hair, face graced with large awe-filled eyes. His little hand touched my face as we shared grins with each other.
“Well this is the best thing to happen today, what a way to make me feel special,” I replied.
The little boy went back to the arms of his father, eyes still on me. I gave hugs all around as I said good-bye.
The father tried to get the boy to wave, and instead he just stared kindly, blinking at me some message in Morse code I couldn’t quite decipher. And yet, I didn’t need to. For it was yet another experience of many I’ve had in life. Souls know each other, and sometimes it takes the unfiltered innocence of a child to remind you that even without words we can recognize the beauty and light in one another.