I heard one of the saddest stories I have ever heard, today.

[driver8]

Warning -- This story may make you sad, as well. It broke my heart.

My daughter goes to afternoon Pre-School and I was going to drop her off on my way to work. She asked me if we could go to McDonald's for lunch, so that is where we went.

We were sitting there eating our meals (in the "Kids'Section") and a woman was sitting at the next table with a little boy. The little boy was cute and my daughter started talking to him.

The woman then told me that the boy's father had been killed in a car accident on Monday.
Not only that, but the Mom gave birth to a baby boy on Tuesday.
I was sitting there stunned when the big brother ran up to me (6 year old) and told me "My Dad was killed in a car accident..."
I sat there stunned and all I could say was, "I know...I'm so sorry."

I had tears in my eyes as I watched the woman and the boys leave the restaurant. I didn't want my daughter to see because she wasn't paying attention and didn't know what the woman had told me.

This world just isn't fair sometimes.

[Madrone]

1. That's horrible.

So much suffering in the world. :cry:

[Ariana Celeste]

2. Those poor kids.

And Mom... :cry:

I know personally how that feels... it is very tough... I hope they have a lot of good memories with him to hold onto...

[u4ic]

3. : (

:cry:

[rockymountaindem]

4. When I was in high school, I had a teacher who would always say "watch out for the stupid people!"

at the end of every class. Now, this guy had a knack for telling some pretty funny stories (like the time he went into the wrong rowhouse and sat down next to a total stranger reading a newspaper and thought it was his uncle). So, naturally, we asked him what the story was about the "watch out for the stupid people" remark. He'd say "I'll tell you a little later in the year". So finally, one day (I think it was a Friday) someone asked him again. He said, "well, I'll tell you. I was walking down the street one day, and I saw these four kids messing around..." We all thought this had to be the best story yet, right? "... And they were having a good time just messing with each other, and then all of a sudden one of them ended up being accidentally pushed in front of a truck and she was killed right then and there."

Obviously not the story we were expecting, nor the time we expected to hear it. Hearing things like this always make me think, you know? I mean, we all drive or spend time walking near cars each day, and it's probably one of the most dangerous things we can do? Imagine how little experience and ability we demand of ourselves and each other before we all get behind the wheel of a 1500 pound battering ram at 80mph.

It also makes me think of a story from the Yom Kippur prayerbook. A student asked a Rabbi, "when is the best time to repent?" The Rabbi said "the only time you need to repent is the day before you die". The student, puzzled, said "how do we know what day that will be?" The Rabbi said, "We don't know, that is why we must repent every day". Needless to say, I repent every day. Who knows when it will all be taken away? Stories like this make me want to hold on to everyone a little tighter, eh?

[dorktv]

5. out of death comes life