Good morning. Welcome to Jo Ann’s Virtual Café 2023. Come on in and help yourself to a breakfast beverage. Let’s talk. Joe has a story.
One day, a little boy was playing in a small town park. He looked up and saw a big balloon flying by, high in the air. The little boy decided he would follow the balloon.
Soon, that balloon was flying out of the park, and the little boy was told not to wander off too far. However, the boy couldn’t help it. He had to try to get the balloon before it landed somewhere.
The boy kept following the balloon, going farther away from the Park. Finally, he saw it land by a big fancy house. There was a fence around the big house. The little boy didn’t let that stop him. He climbed over the fence and ran to the big balloon.
As he started picking up the balloon, a little girl and her father approached him. “What are you doing in our yard?” said the father.
“My name is Bobby. I was following this balloon. It flew by the Park where I was playing. I followed it here. I thought I just might take it home with me,” he said.
“Well, my name is Henry. This is my daughter Olivia. We live here. You shouldn’t go over private fences onto property you don’t own,” said Henry.
“I didn’t mean to get into trouble. I am sorry. I better go home,” said Bobby.
Olivia asked, “Where is home?”
Bobby looked around, “I don’t know. I was watching the balloon and didn’t keep track of where I was going. I am lost. How do I get to the Park from here?”
Henry said, “I will take you back to the town Park. Your mother must be worried. I will have my Chauffeur take you back there with us. Didn’t your mother tell you not to go getting yourself in trouble?” Bobby started to cry.
“Why are you crying?” asked Olivia.
“Because I don’t have a mother. I live at the County Home with others that don’t have parents. I wish I had a beautiful home like yours and a sister to play with. I do need to get back before I get into any more trouble,” he said. Henry and Olivia got into the car with Bobby. The Chauffeur drove them to the Park.
The County’s Home Supervisor was waiting for Bobby. When Bobby got out of the car, the Supervisor started to yell at the boy for leaving the Park. Henry told the Supervisor not to be hard on Bobby.
He was just a kid following a big balloon.
The Supervisor told Bobby to get on the bus and stay there. The Supervisor apologized for Bobby being on Henry’s property. “Don’t worry about that! Can my daughter and I come to see Bobby and take him out to our home to play with my daughter sometime? “ asked Henry.
The County Home Supervisor answered, “Yes, you can. Everyone in town knows who you are. All you need to do is sign him out and sign some papers. It would be good for Bobby. He doesn’t have any friends. He’s kind of a special boy. He’s very smart but looks at things differently than other kids. You will have to be very careful, or he will just take off,” said the Supervisor.
After the County Home’s bus left with Bobby, Olivia asked, “Did you really mean we could have Bobby visit us?” Henry nodded, “Yes, I did. We will get him next Saturday, and he can come and play with you. Would you like that?” Olivia nodded her head and smiled.
When Bobby got back to the County Home, he told everyone about the big house and car with a chauffeur. All the other kids laughed at him when he said they were coming back to sign him out. Bobby couldn’t wait for the next Saturday to come, but Henry and Olivia didn’t show up. Bobby got kidding by the rest of the County Home’s kids. He was so upset and depressed. The next week all he did was stay to himself.
Two Saturdays later, a big black car pulled up to the County Home. All the kids inside looked at the big car. A man got out with a little girl and entered the County home. They were going to sign out Bobby, but he was nowhere to be found. He had run away. They looked for Bobby all night.
Henry had all his employees look for Bobby, but they simply couldn’t find him. The Sheriff said, “We will keep an eye out for him.”
Henry told Olivia that they couldn’t find Bobby. She was so sad. Two nights later, Olivia looked out her window. Standing there was little Bobby. She ran to the back door. She let Bobby into the back kitchen door. “Where have you been, Bobby?” she whispered to him.
“I thought you would never come to get me. I just had to find out why. You and your father were so nice to me. Why did you not come? Everyone made fun of me. I just couldn’t stay in that County Home anymore,” said Bobby.
“You can stay in our guest house if you want. I will sneak out food for you. We can play together while my Dad is at work. We can have lots of fun,” said Olivia.
For the next week, Olivia and Bobby played together every day in the guest house. She would bring some food from the kitchen for him to eat. One day, one of the help saw her taking food to the guest house. She followed Olivia and looked through the guest house’s window. She saw Olivia and Bobby having such a good time. She went back and called Henry and told him what she saw.
Henry came home. He went straight back to the guest house. He looked in the window. He couldn’t believe how well Olivia and Bobby were playing with each other. They were putting puzzles together and playing board games. Henry couldn’t believe his eyes. Olivia never played with any other kids. She was a special child that didn’t have any friends. Henry tried to have other kids over, but she just would not play with them.
Henry opened the door. “I see you found Bobby, Olivia. How long have you two been doing this?”
Olivia said, “For four days, Bobby stayed here at night. I love playing with him. He understands me. He is like me, Daddy. Can Bobby stay with us?”
Henry replied, “I will ask your mother tonight. She will be home from her visit with Grandma. We will see what she says.”
That night, Henry told his wife about Bobby and Olivia. Olivia asked her mother if Bobby could stay with them. Her mother asked if she could talk to Bobby alone. Bobby came into the room, and everyone left.
“I understand you ran away from the County Home a few days ago. Why did you do that?” asked Olivia’s mother. Bobby had a hard time finding the words. “I was following a balloon and found my way here. When I met Olivia, I just knew that she was like me. I just knew that we could be like brother and sister. She talks like me and likes the same things. The balloon seemed to be taking me here. I have been praying to have someone adopt me that had a kid like me. Nobody ever adopted me because I am different. That’s why I had to run away from the County Home. I knew this was my only chance to have a family. Henry is so nice. Please let me stay,” cried Bobby.
Olivia’s Mother replied, “Yes, you can. I have been checking you out. You are like my daughter. She says that you understand her. We have been watching you two. I agree. We will take you back to the Home tomorrow. It will take a month to do the adoption paperwork. I will see if you can stay here until everything is finalized.”
Olivia had a new friend and brother. They were good for each other. They were one happy family. Who would have known that a large balloon floating high in the sky would lead two kids to a life full of happiness? Sometimes you just got to believe.
Having said that, let’s share a breakfast beverage and a Native American Proverb. The Proverb of today goes like this, “Only leave footsteps on your path that you would like to follow.”
Thanks for coming! Enjoy your gift of today. Have a great day! We look forward to seeing you tomorrow!
