The following story is true. No names were changed because the innocent are protected.
Located at the foot of Diamond Head Crater in the east end of Waikiki is the largest and oldest public park in the state of Hawaii. Kapiolani Park consists of 300 acres of moderately wooded, gently undulating land of indescribable beauty flanked by the Honolulu Zoo, an endless turquoise sea and an elliptical field of dreams.
This is where the story begins – and ends. It’s late on a Sunday afternoon and the park is vibrating; soccer, cricket, football, families cooking, children’s laughter, young men lying and looking at young women reclining, bathing in the sun, ukuleles strumming, and resident birds and dragon flies just flying
Jaden is in the fourth grade. His favorite thing is playing football and doing exactly as he pleases – spontaneously. This is the place for spontaneity and gazing into the clouds or rolling atop the thick lawns, seemingly insect free, with zebras in cages nearby.
Grandfather is a young sixty-five. Jaden is a precocious nine, however, he is big for his age. Jaden challenges his grandfather to a foot race. Suddenly, man and boy dash off as if a starter’s pistol exploded. The old man is just a little faster. He is outrunning the kid when Jaden suddenly tackles his grand father and the two of them tumble onto the grass in a jumble of arms, legs and laughter.
“It’s all about what is in the heart grandpa,” Jaden says. “No little champion it is about the speed in the feet,” the old man admonishes.
Jaden grabs the football, and flings it high and hard. For a brief moment the spinning ball seems to eclipse the meaning of time as it spirals through the aromatic air and then is pulled back to earth. The old man catches the ball in one large hand and does his “Prime Time” impression as the boy mocks him with his own end zone dance and more laughter.
Nearby, the old man’s daughter shouts from the car: “Do you want me to lock it?” The old man automatically pats his pockets making certain he has the car keys, and to his surprise, realizes his pockets are empty. “I’ve lost my keys!” He says aloud.
“You lost the keys grandpa?” Jaden asks.
“Yes—yes! I can’t find the car keys.”
“Where did you lose them?” His daughter asks.
“I think when Jaden tackled me the keys must have fallen out.” At that moment the three of them returned to the scene of the crime where Jaden had tackled him. They got down on their hands and knees and began to pat the ground because with grass so lush and thick car keys could hide anywhere.
At that moment a man with an eye-patch was walking nearby with his dog. He was about the same age as grandpa. “What are you doing,” he asked?”
“We have lost our car keys.”
“Well then,” he said, “you should take off your shoes because in grass this thick the feet become eyes.” At that moment everyone took off their shoes and allowed their feet to feel the grass. The old man had a large reddish dog with him, but only the dog had two good eyes and the old man also removed his shoes.
Within seconds another person, a younger, very large, man with his teenage daughter asked grandfather. “What are you looking for?”
“We have lost our car keys.”
“And I have lost my home—actually I am houseless,” he said. The big man then smiled. “Listen if we form a line and move in mass we can cover more ground,” he said. Quickly, they formed a line—shoulder to shoulder. The one-eyed man and his dog, the houseless man and his teenage daughter, grandpa, his daughter and of course Jaden made an arrow straight line and searched the spot beneath the tree, and all around the tree. They searched with their heads down, their shoes off and their eyes wide open. Each one committed to the moment. It was as if their initiative had sparked a flame and turned the flame into momentum.
Nearby other people in the park seeing the guide dog, the one-eyed man, the giant and the children all with their shoes off and their heads down instantly joined them in exponential expression. Suddenly, there were twenty people searching, and then thirty people with their shoes off moving in right angles and concentric circles in search of the key. “I found it!” Jaden screams. “I found it…I’ve found the keys.” The park erupted with enthusiasm. A cheer went up as if 30 minors had been rescued from a caved in mine shaft, or bawling babies had been saved from a burning building. Thirty strangers were cheering, giving high fives and hugs. It was an unexpected and unforeseeable moment within the moment like faith within victory. At the vertex of that moment Jaden whispered to his grandfather. “The keys were in the front seat of the car all the time, but it doesn’t matter because it’s all about what is in the heart grandpa.”
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