Tuesday, July 06, 2010

At the End of Twenty-Two Hundred Miles

I was so happy to be heading back into the foothills of the Rockies, I just had to take a photo. I am so grateful to be home, it is just silly.

When we got into Colorado, I was shocked to see my daughter wiping a tear from her eye. Crying is NOT her style. I asked her what was wrong - and it took her a while to respond. She said that our vacation was over and she was sad about that. I wasn't happy that she was sad, but I was happy that the trip was that good for her. It was for me too. What a wonderful thing. We compared notes about what was the best part of the convention and the trip. I would have liked to have written about that tonight....

Then the traffic came to a dead halt. It was over 90º (which feels like about 60º in San Antonio), and I had a quarter tank of gas. I don't know why I insist on running my car low on gas, but I always have. Anyway, there was a road sign that said there was a crash five miles ahead and that we would need to leave the highway. It took a l-o-n-g time to get the five miles to the exit. It was now about the time when we should have been arriving home, and instead we were stuck in this mess.

When we finally got to the exit we filed off the highway along with everyone else, we stopped at the gas station, and then the grocery store. At the grocery store, my daughter and I both used the rest room. While there, we were chatting - I told her "we should be praying for the people who were in that accident instead of bitching about the traffic." My daughter agreed and said that she had been praying. When I exited the stall, there was a beautiful young girl standing there. She said to me: "That was my mom who died."

Oh my God! I cried, she cried, I wrapped my arms around her and asked her if she was OK. I asked if she was in the car with her mom. Then she told me her mother wasn't in a car.... she jumped off the overpass onto the interstate highway. Oh my. My daughter then asked her how old she is - she is 13. I asked if she was alone. Her dad was out in the car waiting for her. He stopped there so that she could use the restroom. My daughter was hugging her and crying with her. We asked her name. I asked her mother's name. I told her I would pray for them both. It was one of the most intense experiences I have ever had.

After she left and we got into the car, there was a part of me that hoped that maybe she was some little girl who made up a big story. In my heart I knew she wasn't, but I wanted to believe that she is not a little girl whose mother just threw herself 25 feet off an overpass into 75 mile per hour traffic. Not a little girl who no longer has a mom. Not a little girl devastated. The rest of our trip was virtually silent - and very somber.

When I got home and checked the news - and sure enough, a woman parked her truck along the side of that road this afternoon. She left a suicide note in it and jumped into traffic. A tour bus hit her. The interstate highway was closed for an hour and a half. And a beautiful little girl will have to pick up the pieces for the rest of her life.

I talked with my sponsor tonight, to let her know we got home safe and sound. I told her about this experience. She thanked God that he saw fit to put my daughter and myself into that little girl's path. She said this is an example of what happens when you turn your will and your life over to the care of God. I thank Him too if he chose to use us in that little way. I wish there was something we could have done beyond a hug and a tear.

Prayers. I can pray. Sarah's face will stay with me forever.

God bless that little girl, and her mother.

11 comments:

Carverlane said...

I thank Him, too, that He chose you and your daughter to be of service in this way. God Bless poor little Sarah.

Kim from sAn Antonio

Syd said...

Such a sad and tragic thing for the mother and her daughter. I am glad that you and your daughter were there to give some comfort. We do the best we can to help others and ease their burden a bit.

Pammie said...

Oh Mary....how awful. To begin her teen years this way is just heart breaking. To end your trip this way is so emotionally exhausting.
This is just so sad,

Mary LA said...

What a shocking experience for you and your daughter. That poor girl. Even today when I think about my own mother's suicide -- and I was so much older -- I get a sense of unreality and anguish.

I'm glad you were there to give her a hug.

dAAve said...

Besides being happy that you guys got home safely, I have no words to use here.
Thanks.

Jess Mistress of Mischief said...

Oh God I'm so glad that you could be there to be that little girl's angels though. You were able to hug her and cry with her two strangers when she didn't know what to do or who to turn to, you were miraculously there right in that moment!

That's the God I know, moving people through seemingly innane circumstance to be a carrier of his Grace and Love!

God be with Sarah and her family, keep Sarah safe and please continue to bring her angels and love as she processes through this experience.

I cannot forget those miracle people God put in my life over the years, and now that I am in the channel I'm in, I see so much larger a picture of how God works, and it's only a few steps in the Greater Performance he's creating with us.

God be with you too!!!

Roxie said...

Oh my.

Anonymous said...

Words escape me.

marie said...

Chills, chills, and more chills is what I have from reading your post. But how wonderful for that little girl to have run into you because now she has over 100 more people that can be praying for her and her family because of you sharing this on your blog. Thank you, MC.
Marie

Kathy Lynne said...

I am crying...which is a bit awkward since I'm at work...and as sad as this story was..its true and real and is beautiful...between you and your daughter and your shared San Antonio experience and what the two of you were able to give to that girl. The universe works that way and I have no doubt that meeting you and your daughter made a difference in Sarah's life. Meant to be. Thank you for sharing.

Willa said...

Shockingly, one of those Godshots...you were there for a reason, evidently. I am so glad that you were there for that young girl.

I'm stunned and shocked.