Monticello Live

One young girl caught the attention and the heart of one local mom (and the rest of Monticello) last week when she showed an act of kindness to the mom’s son who came up empty handed during a mad rush at the Easter egg hunt. Seeing the young man with an empty basket, the young girl gladly shared her spoils. The mom was so moved, she wrote in to MonticelloLive to share the story. A story which ended up with a new day, but similar story when the same two children crossed paths again the next day, and, again, a moment of grace was exchanged when the young girl shared her eggs with her newfound friend (see the story below). At the recommendation of a few readers, this week’s One Monticello Life highlights BrookLynn White.

BrookLynn White moved to Monticello just last year with her parents, Greg and Tandee White, when her mother was transferred with her company. When asked what prompted her to share her eggs with the young boy, she said, “He did not have any eggs so I wanted to be nice and give him some of my eggs. And he had a broke arm.” (BrookLynn broke her arm last summer.)

When asked what she thought Easter was about, BrookLynn said, “it is when God is raised from the grave. He wants us to do good things and love each other and be nice. If someone is hurt I try to help and ask if they are okay.” Although the White’s have not found a church to call home yet, they have been visiting several to find the right fit for them.

BrookLynn attends TeamKids at First Baptist Church and plans on attending camp this summer. She enjoys ‘learning about Jesus and Mary and Joseph.’ BrookLynn has joined her mom on several occasions to walk for a charity, collect food for the food pantry and gather toys for the Toys for Tots drive. “We are very blessed and it is important for us to look for opportunities to help others,” said mom. “BrookLynn has a very kind heart and is very caring. We talk about being accepting of others and their differences and to seek out those that are being overlooked.”

BrookLynn said she “really likes Monticello” and is making a lot of friends. She is in first grade at Monticello Elementary School where she enjoys math, science and, most of all, recess. She really enjoyed the cheer clinics and cheering for the Billies.

Sports play a big part in BrookLynn’s life. She has been taking dance and gymnastics since she was three and swam with the Maumelle Marlins the last three years. She has also played T-ball and softball for the past three years and is currently playing on the Diamond Belles.

BrookLynn has one dog, Bailey, and is making plans for a couple of new kittens this fall. She is also looking forward to bringing home a little chick from the eggs her first grade class is incubating. “Mrs. P. Lane says we can bring them home once they hatch,” BrookLynn beems.

BrookLynn’s favorites include:
Restaurant—McDonald’s (chicken nuggets, yummy)
TV show—iCarly
Movie—“Tangled”
Actress—Miranda Cosgrove (iCarly star)
Sport—Softball
Music—Pop and Gospel
Song—“Say” by John Mayer

Thanks, BrookLynn White, for sharing your One Monticello Life, and setting a good example for all of us to look for opportunities to be kind to others.

~~~~~~~
A Parent Says Thank You, with a Touching Story
April 2, 2012

In today’s world we often get lost in the all the wrong things. Many folks bought lottery tickets this last weekend hoping to find a reward. I was one of those many, but Saturday, I saw real reward in action.

We attended the Johnny Appleseed Easter Egg hunt, Saturday.  It was hot and late..but the kids finally got to go. The people who did this took time for thier community and many of you know that is important to me, so I am grateful for thier effort. This was an event for the children and it is them that I want to write about. They were patient as they could be and my little man was in the 5-8 year old group. When they all raced forward picking up the eggs, in the rush I lost sight of my son. When I found him he was so happy he had four eggs, but he said, “Momma, I didnt pick up any. The little girl there gave them to me. Aren’t they wonderful, Mommy,” and I said, “yes they are, more than you know.”

What is so special about this story?  My son has a broken arm in three places, he is casted from his wrist up to his shoulder and was unable with his best effort to get the eggs. This little girl could have kept all of her reward or jackpot for herself, but she opened her heart to someone in need. I am so sorry I didnt get the little girls name. I hope she sees this story and knows what a profound difference she made to one little boy’s Easter.

Thank you to her and her parents for teaching her to be kind in a time when we all hear the stories in the news of bullies, and the terrible things happening to our kids in this world..one kind deed can be so profound.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There is a part two to this story.

My son and I also attended the Egg Drop Sunday. Pauline Baptist truly did a blessed thing, adding a reminder to all of us just what Easter is all about, with a story for the children while we waited.

My son is a determined young man, so he wanted to try again, Sunday. The same little girl, her name is Brooklyn, sought out my son, checked his basket and gave him six more. Bless her, he was grateful, but being five and frustrated, he’s not good at expressing it, we are working on that.

I am very grateful and am glad to know that we live in a community where people do have good values and raise their children with loving hearts too.

Jen McCarthy

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 8th, 2012 at 7:55 am and is filed under Letters to the Editor. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.