By Lois Hewitt

I’m so stupid.  I almost cried at a gas station restaurant.  Mike and I had a little time before my post-chemo shot. So we stopped at a little restaurant attached to a Shell station in Swannanoa.

The inside was adorable. It felt safe. We sat down to a big menu.  I ordered a burger and fries and a to go box.  Usually the day after chemo I feel hungry but can’t eat much.

The food came out fast and fresh as could be.  Our waitress was absolutely lovely.

Well I ate all of the burger and half the fries along with a whole iced tea.  I was amazed.

So I explained the situation to her and the compassion in her eyes, not pity, teared me up.  And she said to come back after the next treatment, with the biggest smile on her face.  A complete stranger.

I somewhat lost my faith in humanity before my diagnosis.  But the outpouring of sincere love and caring from friends and family and people I don’t even know had restored the faith.

I sit here sometimes and wonder what my purpose is now, I used to think I knew what it was but now those things I can no longer do.

Helpless I am some times.  To shaky to write.  Using a cane a lot of the time.  Tired more than I’m not.  A blob is what I am.  But there must be a purpose left in me.  God’s purpose.

I guess the moral of this post is you never know who is going to give you the lift you need to keep going even if you are not sure you know where you are going. And visa versa.

I think in general we are here to help and encourage each other.  Unfortunately there are so many who don’t believe that. They are too busy or too important.  And those are the ones we remember.

Today I start remembering the kindness not the rudeness. I will remember the gentle touch on the shoulder not the brush to get past me because I am too slow.

God has granted me so many kindnesses and genuine people in my life.  I have no reason whatsoever to doubt.

The world we live in today is hard. It’s difficult.  It’s ever changing. But there are plenty of caring people that get overlooked by the overbearing.  Today I’m turning that around. 

God gave us kindness as one of the Fruits of the Spirit.  Today I embrace all those fruits and put evil into perspective. 

And I got a fabulous hamburger (one of my favorite things) out of the deal.  I thought today was my bad day but it turned out great by the grace of God.