Once There Was A Little Boy Named Owen - Or How Owen Found His Parents

Once there was a little boy named Owen.  Well he wasn’t named Owen yet and he wasn’t really a little boy either.  He was just a little soul floating around in the universe waiting to find the right home.   He had been looking for quite a while but finding a family was important business and he wanted to do it right. 

Each day Owen would visit different places and people to look for his home.   First, Owen went to visit a farm in Idaho.  There he saw a big family with lot of kids.   And there were all sorts of animals.  Everyone looked like they were having a lot of fun and Owen thought it sure would be neat to get to live near all those cows.   But as Owen counted up the kids one, two, three, four, five, he started to think maybe it wasn’t the best for him. “I don’t think I want to be number six,” Owen thought. “In fact, I’d really like to be the number one, so I better keep looking.”  So off Owen went, after one last look at the cows. 

Next, Owen went to Dallas Texas.  He heard someone say that everything was better in Texas, or was it bigger?  He wasn’t sure but he decided he might as well check it out.  He swooped down into one yard where he saw a couple living in a BIG BIG house, with a BIG BIG pool, and three BIG BIG cars.  Boy, they weren’t kidding when they said things were big.  Even the lady’s hair was BIG BIG BIG.  Owen smelled some delicious things, like BBQ and queso.  The couple looked like they were having fun too, which might have had something to do with those BIG BIG drinks they were drinking.  But all this big, big, bigness made Owen feel a little anxious. “ I’m just a little, little boy”, he thought. “All this bigness is just not for me, I better keep looking.”  So off he went.

After that, Owen went to California where he saw a nice young couple living right near the beach.  Owen was pretty hopeful about this.  He had a feeling he was REALLY going to like the water.  He liked the sound of the ocean and he thought it would be fun to run his fingers through the sand.  Owen watched the couple for a while and they seemed to be having a lot of fun.    They had a garden in back where they grew lots of vegetables and fruit which they used to make a big dinner.   Then Owen heard them talking about their plan.  They planned to move from country to country each year, surfing the big waves and living off the land.  Owen thought it would be nice to travel but changing homes every year seemed like a little much.  “I think I might like to stay in a place a little bit longer than that,” Owen said, “I better keep looking.”  And away he went.

Next Owen went to Alaska.  He had heard that Alaska really was beautiful and boy it was true.  The air was clean and the glaciers glittered in the sun.  He saw a nice couple there who lived in a nice little house right at the foot of a mountain. There was a head of an animal hanging on the wall which didn’t seem as nice as having a live animal in the yard.  He watched the couple sit down for dinner and boy did the food look good.  The table was piled high with fresh fish and bread and a huge salad.  But as dinner went on, Owen noticed the couple did not talk at all except to say, “Pass the fish please.”  They seemed to enjoy being quiet.  Owen guessed that was okay but he thought, “That’s not for me.  I think I need a little more noise.  I better keep looking.”  So off he went.

Owen went from place to place to place and saw so many different people and things.  And so many times he was tempted but something in him wanted to keep looking.  Finally he went to New York City and right away he loved it, with all the different people and sounds, and things to see.  And he was floating around and he saw this man and this woman walking down the street holding hands and talking to each other.  There was something about them that just seemed nice.  Owen moved in a little closer to hear what they were saying.  The woman was talking.  She said, “Hi baby, if you’re out there, we would really like you to come live with us.  We have some really great things to offer.  True, we have a few things that could use a little work but overall we’re a pretty good deal.”  Owen looked around to see who she was talking to but he didn’t see anyone else.  “Maybe she’s talking to me,” he thought. 

“So, baby if you come live with us, we promise that we will have a lot of fun,” she said. “We are creative and a little silly and we love to play.  We’ll sing songs and read books and make art.  We have good imaginations and will try to make magic wherever we can.  Sometimes I have too much of a temper and I’m not so good at organizing things but I can write you stories and sing you too sleep.  Also, I’m a really good cook and I sure know what to do with a banana.  We don’t exactly have perfect jobs and we only have a little apartment and we may not be your most traditional family but we love each other so much and love you too.  We promise to let you be whoever you want to be though we sure hope you’re not a Republican and you don’t join a cult. Please baby if you’re out there, we would love for you to come to us.”  They went on talking a little more about what they had and what they didn’t but Owen didn’t need to listen anymore.  He knew that this was his family.  He liked how they were so busy looking for him and how they talked about what they had and what they didn’t.   But most of all, he just felt like he was supposed to be their little boy.  For him, there was nowhere else he would rather be.  And he decided to stop looking.  He painted a little splash of his soul across their hearts so when he went back up into the universe to wait for the right moment to return, he would be able to make it back to them. 

And that is the story of how Owen found his mommy and daddy.