A follow up on Socks with Sandals and the meaning of friendship
My family and I were introduced to Sophia Florio this past Saturday at the fantastically organized Great Strides CF Walk. Based on all the super fun photos of her on Facebook we thought we were prepared for her super cuteness, but it turns out we were not. I think I bordered on the creepy because I kept saying she was so cute. I must confess that I was not entirely sure how to interact with her. I think it might have been the “no touch” policy (in place to protect her from any exposure to germs) conflicting with the crazy urge to hug her.
As I eluded in the previous post, being a father had -for me- already placed the reality of her condition in a palpable context, meeting her made it even more real. She showed an immediate interest in Annaly and in the picture to the right you can almost see the fascination on her face. (FYI Click on the picture to enlarge) Bryan mentioned her fascination stems from her lack of interaction with other kids, her condition makes daycare and similar surroundings difficult. I must say that Annaly was being a stinker that day, because she was still sleepy and somewhat hungry and although Annaly was giving Sophia the stink eye, Sophia was still rockin’ the happiest of faces. Sophia was wearing the team shirt which was bright yellow and winning smile. All I could think about was how life is harder on her, she has an argument for being fussy or crying. Yet she could have instigated a supernova with her smile. It was a lesson in humility among other things. On that day, she was pure sunshine and I am better for it.
At this point, I think you get that I was appropriately enamored with that little girl, but I think everything was made better by Bryan’s obvious passion for her. There is a deep love in that family and -if I can be so bold- I can recognize that kind of love because of my own family. Bryan and I talked for most of the walk and it felt as familiar as our friendship was in High School. No doubt we are both different people these days, but it I’ll confess it made me extremely happy that our friendship was still there underneath everything. The feeling is probably more analogous to finding 50 dollars in an old pair of jeans, like a combination of luck and gratitude. What intrigues me the most is how being there and meeting his family made me feel -in addition to everything else- proud of him. Not the kind of proud that stems from involvement, but the kind that is simply glad to know him, to know his precious little girl and in return to be known by them.
