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. But...I 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 better...but 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 brighter...I 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.

去年大約在萬圣節前夕，我應邀參加了一個由“TUESDAY'S CHILD”主辦的嘉年華，該組織旨在幫助那些感染了艾滋病的兒童。我之所以受邀是因為我是一個電視節目的主持人；我之所以參加是因為我也很關注他們。我想絕大多數孩子并不會把我當作一位名人。他們只會把我當作一個在這里陪他們玩的大孩子而已。我想我更喜歡這樣。

    在嘉年華上，孩子們有各種各樣的棚。我看到所有孩子都聚在一個棚子下面，我也被他們吸引了過去。在棚下，大家都想畫一個棉桃。一會后，棉桃彼此錯綜在一起，做成了一個被子，這個被子將被送給將其一生奉獻給這個組織的人，他不久將會退休。

    他們把鮮艷的、色彩各異的顏料發給每個孩子，讓孩子在這個被子上畫點什么東西把它弄好看。我在場地轉悠，看到他們畫的有紅色的心，湛藍色的云彩，橘黃色的日出，翠綠的綠葉和紫羅蘭色的花朵。所有的圖案都是那么明亮，樂觀和向上。可只有一幅例外。

    坐在我的旁邊的那個男孩，正在畫一個心形，可這個心卻是暗淡的，空蕩蕩的，死氣沉沉的。它沒有他的“大作家”伙伴們所畫的那樣色彩明亮，富有活力。

    起初，我還認為是他碰巧畫了這么一副色調暗淡的圖畫，但當我問他時，他說他的心就是這種顏色的，因為他感到生活的灰暗。當我問他為什么時，他說他的身體有病，而且他媽媽病情也很重。他注視著我的雙眼說：“對于這樣的情況，誰也無能為力。”

    我對他說聽到他生病的情況我也很難過。我非常理解他的悲傷，甚至都能明白他為什么把心繪成灰色的原因。但是……我告訴他不是“誰都無能為力”了。其他人可能不能讓他和他媽媽的身體好一點，但我們可以做一些自己力所能及的事情，比如一個溫暖的擁抱，特別是當他們感到悲傷時，一個擁抱能起意想不到的作用。我告訴他如果他愿意的話，我會很高興擁抱他一下的，讓他明白我的用心。他立即跳到我的腿上。此刻，就是這個可愛男孩，使我感覺心里已經充滿了愛。

    他在我腿上待了好久，坐到心滿意足后，才跳下去完成自己的涂色工作。我問他是否感覺舒服多了，他說是的，可自己的病還是沒有好，一切都無法改變。我對他說我知道。我離開時心情很悲傷，但我會再為這件事做些努力的，盡自己的一切力量幫助他。

    天快黑時，我正準備回家。這時，我感到有人在拽我的夾克衫，我回頭一望，原來是他，站在那里，稚嫩的臉蛋上掛著燦爛的微笑。他說：“我心里的顏色在變，它將變得越來越亮……我想那溫暖的擁抱真的有用。” 

    回家的路上，我觸摸著我的心臟，意識到它的顏色也變得越來越亮了。