Papi! (PART ONE)

Jean-Pierre and I had been driving back and forth, up and down the crowded avenue for nigh on thirty minutes, trying in vain to find a place to park. Since it was the height of the tourist season, there was no lack of tourists or their cars! While searching, I felt compelled to say a heartfelt prayer asking God to use me that day by putting me in the place where I was needed most.  "Father please give me the eyes to see and the ears to hear, I pray. Use me if it's Your will."

We finally found the elusive parking spot in an underground parking lot.  Emerging from the cool, shaded shelter of the garage into the bright sunlight and heat of the day, we immediately found ourselves surrounded by swarms of sightseers intent on enjoying the lovely weather, and hoping of course, to spot the occasional celebrity. Beyond, the promenade beckoned. With some difficulty, and much weaving in and out of traffic, we managed to make some headway through the tide of humanity. The path suddenly widened, enabling us to relax our pace and continue strolling in relative comfort.

The blue sea, the azure sky, the yachts, the slender palm trees, the magnificent flower gardens; eye-candy everywhere.  I found it hard to focus on any one thing...there was so much to take in.  Such pretty people; even the old folks were dressed to the nines, looking glamorous.  Take the elderly couple walking toward them on the boardwalk; they were sophistication personified.  One couldn't help but admire them as they passed by.

"Papi, Papi!"  cried the little girl who was now in our sights and running twenty metres behind the couple that had just passed us.  "Papi, Papi! Papi, Papi!"  She was calling desperately for her grandfather. I turned around to see what the granddad would do.  To my consternation, he and his wife just kept walking. Why wouldn't they stop for her?  She was all of three years old.  They might look beautiful, but they were obviously not beautiful inside.  How could grandparents hear those plaintive cries and ignore them?  The child kept up her desperate howling as she ran past the old couple.  She ran past them!  They weren't with her! Scanning the boardwalk beyond the babe, I could see no one else that looked to be the right age to be her grandparents.  Jean-Pierre reached the same conclusion at the same time.  The little girl was lost! We both turned and took off running, passing the elderly couple.  We caught up with the bawling child, each of us grabbing one of her arms to stop her.  "Are you looking for your grandfather? Can't you find him?"  Jean-Pierre asked gently as he knelt by the little girl.  "I want my Papi," she said as she struggled to get away.  "Papi! Papi!" "We'll help you find your Papi.  Do you know where he is?" She shook her head and tried in vain to pull her arm from our grip. "Don't be afraid. We'll help you find him."

The older couple had now caught up, and suspicious of the two of us, asked what was happening. Jean-Pierre explained what had transpired and the four of us were able to calm the child with repeated promises that we would indeed find her Papi. Feeling sure that the child's grandparents would by now, be sick with worry, I asked my husband to go back in the direction the little girl had come from, to look for her family.  They would certainly be recognizable in their distress!  He didn't want to leave. He knew that finding them would be an almost impossible task because of the huge crowds, but tired of listening to my continued nagging, he relented unhappily and started off down the boardwalk. The older gentleman walked a short way off and used his cell phone to contact the police while the other woman and I continued to console the little one.

Meanwhile, Jean-Pierre searched in vain on the seemingly endless esplanade that was filled beyond capacity with the summer hordes.  Left and right he looked, but could see no one who seemed the least bit distressed.  With the masses pressing in on all sides, it was like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack.  Ultimately, admitting defeat, he crossed the avenue and entered one of the posh hotels, in search of a telephone with which to summon the police.

TO BE CONTINUED.....IN PAPI (PART 2)