She Was Crying By The Side Of The Road

She stood there by the side of the road, holding a six month old baby. She was sobbing uncontrollably...

I'm working from home this week, revising project plans. My head was spinning from linking 100+ project dependencies, and I decided to clear my thoughts by taking a morning run.

I got out on one of the 80 miles of shaded golf cart paths here in Peachtree City, setting off earthquake detectors within a 15 mile radius as I rumbled on a leisurely 4 mile jaunt.

I was on the service path behind the new elementary school when I saw her. She was standing next to her golf cart, which had been pulled awkwardly off the road. She was standing there, gazing at the elementary school playground. She was holding what looked to be a six month old girl, and she was crying uncontrollably.

Sometimes your actions are automatic....I immediately stopped running, smiled and approached her and said conversationally "It's too pretty a day to be crying.....can I do something to help you stop?"

She looked at me and turned a bit red. Balancing her infant on one hip, she turned and pointed to the playground.

"It's my oldest's first day of school today....I thought I was ready for this day... but... but... I'm not!!" The tears really came rushing out....

I smiled....and thought back to the first day of school for my oldest kid, so many many years ago. We made small talk about kids and milestones, about next steps and how the years seemed to pass in the blink of an eye.

Interestingly, I felt like we talked about 15 minutes but when I looked at my watch just about 5 minutes had passed. I got her to smile....she obviously wanted someone to talk with... and finally wished her and her children all the best in life and went thundering down the road once more.

I was smiling the rest of my run.