Headed to Cincinnati on a sad February morning…

I was waiting to meet a brother at McDonald’s this morning when a woman walked by the booth where I sat and started to talk with me.  You know how that goes.  Sometimes people see you, perhaps catch your eye, and well, away they go.  Suddenly you are in a conversation with someone you have never seen before.

“Morning sir.  How are you?” she said.

“Doing well.  How are you?”

“Oh, not very good.  Pray for me.  I’m heading to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to see my grand baby.”

“Oh my.”

“Yea, it my daughter’s only child.  They live in Indianapolis.  Her little baby is just 11 months old.  The tiny little thing has Down’s Syndrome and already has had two heart surgeries.”

“Oh no.  I’m so sorry to hear that.”

“Thank you. Me too,” she said.  At that point she grabbed my hand and started to cry.  Right there in the middle of McDonald’s.

“Sounds really hard,” I said.

“Yea, I’m just so afraid the little angel is dying.  We should know later today what the doctors in Cincinnati want to do.  It doesn’t look good.  She’s just 11 months old,” she said, repeating the baby’s age.  “My daughter just cries all the time. On the phone this morning I couldn’t even understand her.  I just told her, ‘We’re on our way, baby. We’re on our way.'”

She wiped her tears, shook my hand and off she walked, saying one more time, “Pray for us.” and then adding, “I’m sorry, sir.  I’m so sorry.”

“That’s okay, ma’am.  It’s okay.”

She opened the door and walked outside. I watched her quickly walk to her car, get in and drive away.  I picked up my coffee to take another sip.  The music playing in the background was a popular song from the group Kansas — Dust in the Wind, from way back in the late 1970s…

“Now, don’t hang on, nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky
It slips away, and all your money won’t another minute buy
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind
Dust in the wind
Everything is dust in wind
Everything is dust in the wind.”