This evening I knew I didn't want to spend another Saturday evening just doing homework. So the wonderful BBaer had an AWESOME idea for us to hit up some laser tag.
We actually played with a huge group and had a blast!! I wasn't even the lowest score!! And I didn't shoot him a single time! That's a win in my book!!
We spent a ridiculous amount of time in the arcade as well! Oh! And I got my faux-coon!!! He's cute although he doesn't have a name just yet.
Not that our silliness isn't riveting, but on to the interesting part...
BBaer had another brilliant idea to curb my shake craving so we went to a local place in our hometown. (This is where the interesting part actually comes in...)
So we had finished our midnight snack and were just sitting chatting when this woman and girl come in to the diner. The woman was short in stature but so very beautiful with a very open and nonchalant air about her. The girl was tall and pretty and crying. It's been a while since I've seen someone look so utterly crushed (not counting my mirror). Her eyes were swollen and rimmed-red with thin streaks of mascara dripping down her face. I had NO IDEA what was going on but my heart broke for her. I watched them sit and tried to ease drop from across the room but to little avail. When BBaer and I got up to leave, I couldn't help it, I was compelled to go offer a hug or a shake or something.
Turns out she was having a VERY rough night and that lovely woman that she came in with was none other than an angel within the skin of a stranger.
Lost Lamb is a 17 year old girl that The Angel picked up off the side of the road. With no shoes and essentially dressed in pajamas (or every day wear for sorority girls, take your pick), Lost Lamb was sobbing on the side of the street near the high school. The Angel, being a mother herself, picked up Lost Lamb and offered to bring her to the diner so she could calm down and they could talk.
I listened to her story. I related to her on so many levels. I truly believe in my heart of hearts that tonight was meant to happen as it did. The girl had run from what she viewed as a bleak situation. The Angel saw a vehicle drive off from Lamb and took initiative. To be a 17 year old girl, middle child, and dealing with all that teenage angst and drama, then to not know where to turn when you're so overwhelmed you want to run??? That's so hard. I'm so grateful that we got her to call her sister and at least tell someone where she was.
After talking to her sister, I realized many things. This was a well loved little girl but she's been getting lost in the shuffle as she's hit her teens. She doesn't feel like she matters enough to anyone and she doesn't see what's right in front of her. I know how hard it is to look beyond your own mental block, but bless her, she has to do that.
The Angel and I both offered solace to Lost Lamb both there in the diner and a way for her to contact either of us in the future.
It will be a very long and bumpy road for Lost Lamb, but I hope tonight helped open her eyes as well as the eyes of her sister. I hope she utilizes my number or The Angel's offer. Lost Lamb has had a rough go of things tonight and I hope her trip home was a quiet one. Hopefully tomorrow she will take the opportunity to talk to her family.
I'm in no position to ever judge a teenager for their choices. There are a good number of people who can attest to my continuous poor decisions. But I hope that I can be what I needed when I was her age. I hope that my experiences can give her a different perspective and maybe even a different option to some of the ones she has been making. Lost Lamb has prompted a need in me. I hope she (and her parents of course) will allow me an opportunity to help her. I'm half tempted to call my alma mater and see if I can volunteer some how in the school. She can't be the only one struggling so hard. I hope that others can find peace and relatability in me.
I was lucky. I had some pretty scary thoughts as a teen and if it weren't for some fantastic people in my life, I don't know that I would be on this Earth today.
My heart hurts for Lost Lamb but I know Grace put her in the path of The Angel and myself for a very good reason. Hopefully, this isn't all there is!!
Ya know, I think faux-coon may have a name after all. (But you'll still know him as faux-coon!!)
