And yet another library "incident"...

Ben "helps" with Lotta.

Remember how we used to have all kinds of disastrous scenes at the library?  Kinds where I felt as if we would no longer be welcomed at that branch.  Or perhaps armed guards would escort us out.

Yesterday we walked to our local branch.  As I was attempting to sign Ben up for the summer reading program, Lotta was getting fidgety.  She thoroughly enjoys pulling all the books off the shelf at the library.  You know, THAT age.  How could I possibly distract her with anything else when she is completely surrounded by books?  Anywho, I was waiting somewhat impatiently for our turn, when a

[caption id="attachment_3926" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Lotta loves to swing like her siblings before her."][/caption]

woman, who very obviously had several disabilities approached me.  She was pushing a stroller of a baby with perhaps Down Syndrome.

Suddenly everything stopped for me.  Because now I know.  Because of Ellie I know there are these amazing angels hiding out in physical forms that sometimes look broken.  This woman struggled greatly to ask me how old Lotta was.  She then struggled to tell me how old her baby was.  I knew that rushing her would only make her speaking that much more difficult.  It felt as if everything else around us faded away.  You know like that scene in West Side Story when Maria and Tony meet, but perhaps a bit less dramatic and romantic.  After our encounter, I knew that I had indeed been touched by an angel, because I suddenly felt more peaceful, appreciative, less harried and worried.  After we signed Ben up for the summer reading program, we discovered that they had a guessing contest.  Can YOU guess what we guessed?  How many crayons were in a container.  Crayons.  It feels like Ellie is all around us.  All the time.