It can be scary but also exhilarating to think that every decision or an interaction can change your life. I was recently on the top of the Stratosphere in Las Vegas with my best friend about to ride an attraction that would take me 1,100 feet in the air and spin me around over the La Vegas Strip. It was scary and exhilarating but I did it (it was on my friends bucket list to go on these thrill rides and who am I to keep someone from their bucket list?-right?)
The decision that changed my life, however, was the decision to talk to some pretty young women that were in the line with us. They were from Western Missouri University and celebrating the 21st birthday of one of the girls. During the introductions, I learned that there were two parents in the lobby at the pizzeria and the 4 people beside us were the birthday girl, her boyfriend, a girlfriend, and the girlfriend of birthday girls brother. I was curious to know where the brother was,( because it was his sister birthday), and the girls told me that he had passed away 8 months ago. I was so sorry for asking and then thought and said out loud,
"I am so sorry-he was so young ; was he involved in an accident"? They shared with me that he had been murered by a man with road rage and he was stabbed to death.
Immediately, my mamma claws, therapist instinct and all other protective factors that I knew went into force. Through hugs and tears and sharing heart to heart, these girls became my friends-my inspiration.
I had no idea that a ride on top of the Stratosphere could change my life-but meeting these beautiful girls has. Suddenly my life concerns seem so small- so insignificant. Suddenly I realized that the strangers we pass by on the street (or see in a line at a ride) may be going through the trail of their lifetime. With all the pain and heartache in the world, we can help by the way we interact. We need each other- there is no substitution for human interaction-for caring and loving. This experience gave me a chance to stop and consider the "humamness" in all of us and how we truly are the same-inside. My life is richer from meeting these beautiful young women and I have new friends on Facebook. : ) Who would have thought this would happen 1,100 feet up over the Las Vegas strip. You just never know.......
