Bright Heart     

    Last year around Halloween, I was invited to participate in a carnival for Tuesday’s Child, an organization that helps children with the AIDS virus. I was asked to attend because I’m on a television show; I went because I care. I don't think that most of the kids recognize me as a celebrity. They just thought of me as a big kid who came to play with them for the day. I think I liked it better that way.

    At the carnival they had all kinds of booths. I was drawn to one in particular because of all the children that had gathered there. At this booth, anyone who wanted to could paint a square. Later that square was going to be sewn together with the others, to make a quilt. The quilt would be presented to a man who had dedicated his life to this organization and would soon be retiring.

    They gave everyone fabric paints in bright, beautiful colors and asked the kids to paint something that would make the quilt beautiful. As I looked around at all the squares, I saw pink hearts and bright blue clouds, beautiful orange sunrises and green and purple flowers. The pictures were all bright, positive and uplifting. All except for one.

    The boy sitting next to me was painting a heart, but it was dark, empty, lifeless. It lacked the bright, vibrant colors that his fellow artists had used.

    At first I thought maybe he took the only paint that was left and it just happened to be dark. But when I asked him about it, he said his heart was that color because his own heart felt dark. I asked him why and he told me that he was very sick. Not only was he very sick, but his mom was very sick also. He said that his sickness was not ever going to get better and neither was his mom's. He looked straight into my eyes and said, “There is nothing anyone can do that will help.”

    I told him I was sorry that he was sick and I could certainly understand why he was so sad. I could even understand why he had made his heart a dark color. ButI told him that it isn't true that there is nothing anyone can do to help. Other people may not be able to make him or his mom betterbut we can do things like give bear hugs, which in my experience can really help when you are feeling sad. I told him that if he would like, I would be happy to give him one so he could see what I meant. He instantly crawled into my lap and I thought my own heart would burst with the love I felt for this sweet little boy.

    He sat there for a long time and when he had had enough, he jumped down to finish his coloring. I asked him if he felt any better and he said that he did, but he was still sick and nothing would change that. I told him I understood. I walked away feeling sad, but recommitted to this cause. I would do whatever I could to help.

    As the day was coming to an end and I was getting ready to head home, I felt a tug on my jacket. I turned around and standing there with a smile on his face was the little boy. He said, “My heart is changing colors. It is getting brighterI think those bear hugs really do work.”

    On my way home I felt my own heart and realized it, too, had changed to a brighter color.

   去年大约在万圣节前夕，我应邀参加了一个由“TUESDAY'S CHILD”主办的嘉年华，该组织旨在帮助那些感染了艾滋病的儿童。我之所以受邀是因为我是一个电视节目的主持人；我之所以参加是因为我也很关注他们。我想绝大多数孩子并不会把我当作一位名人。他们只会把我当作一个在这里陪他们玩的大孩子而已。我想我更喜欢这样。

    在嘉年华上，孩子们有各种各样的棚。我看到所有孩子都聚在一个棚子下面，我也被他们吸引了过去。在棚下，大家都想画一个棉桃。一会后，棉桃彼此错综在一起，做成了一个被子，这个被子将被送给将其一生奉献给这个组织的人，他不久将会退休。

    他们把鲜艳的、色彩各异的颜料发给每个孩子，让孩子在这个被子上画点什么东西把它弄好看。我在场地转悠，看到他们画的有红色的心，湛蓝色的云彩，橘黄色的日出，翠绿的绿叶和紫罗兰色的花朵。所有的图案都是那么明亮，乐观和向上。可只有一幅例外。

    坐在我的旁边的那个男孩，正在画一个心形，可这个心却是暗淡的，空荡荡的，死气沉沉的。它没有他的“大作家”伙伴们所画的那样色彩明亮，富有活力。

    起初，我还认为是他碰巧画了这么一副色调暗淡的图画，但当我问他时，他说他的心就是这种颜色的，因为他感到生活的灰暗。当我问他为什么时，他说他的身体有病，而且他妈妈病情也很重。他注视着我的双眼说：“对于这样的情况，谁也无能为力。”

    我对他说听到他生病的情况我也很难过。我非常理解他的悲伤，甚至都能明白他为什么把心绘成灰色的原因。但是……我告诉他不是“谁都无能为力”了。其他人可能不能让他和他妈妈的身体好一点，但我们可以做一些自己力所能及的事情，比如一个温暖的拥抱，特别是当他们感到悲伤时，一个拥抱能起意想不到的作用。我告诉他如果他愿意的话，我会很高兴拥抱他一下的，让他明白我的用心。他立即跳到我的腿上。此刻，就是这个可爱男孩，使我感觉心里已经充满了爱。

    他在我腿上待了好久，坐到心满意足后，才跳下去完成自己的涂色工作。我问他是否感觉舒服多了，他说是的，可自己的病还是没有好，一切都无法改变。我对他说我知道。我离开时心情很悲伤，但我会再为这件事做些努力的，尽自己的一切力量帮助他。

    天快黑时，我正准备回家。这时，我感到有人在拽我的夹克衫，我回头一望，原来是他，站在那里，稚嫩的脸蛋上挂着灿烂的微笑。他说：“我心里的颜色在变，它将变得越来越亮……我想那温暖的拥抱真的有用。”

    回家的路上，我触摸着我的心脏，意识到它的颜色也变得越来越亮了。