Dear Little Rock,
Some hard things have been happening in my life and it has
come out in my driving and in my shopping and in my dining and so I am writing
you this letter to thank you. You see last year my perfectly healthy happy
three year old did not want to go trick or treating. Yeah. We took him to the
doctor. He was diagnosed with leukemia. He had never been to the hospital
before. We were admitted and spent our first month there. Unfortunately, he
needed a bone marrow transplant and he didn’t make it to receiving one. He died
at age four this summer. For the last 10 months I have cut you off in traffic
and glanced over after realizing only to see you smile and wave me in. I have gone 50 on the freeway and you have
quietly gone around me without honking or flipping me off. I have sat through
green lights without a single person in a long line of cars honking at me. My 1
year old has lain on the floor at a popular restaurant and cried. You have
asked if you could give him a sucker. After my son came home on hospice he
wanted to go out to eat at IHOP. You over heard me explaining to the manager
why we needed to sit in the closed section of the restaurant (immune-
suppression from chemotherapy) and you paid for my family’s meal. You have told
me you would pray for me. From social security case workers to car insurance
agents to the lady whose car I hit in Hot Springs you have prayed for me and I
wanted you to know that what you have done for us is irreplaceable. You see
sometimes someone’s world is crumbling and they are searching for a break.
Somewhere something in life has to ease up or they might not make it. So thanks
for not being too hard on me during a time when the last thing I was thinking
about was driving. Your kindness has propped up my broken world. And I thank
you.
Sincerely,
A mom from Arkansas Children’s Hospital
