A hot August day

A couple years ago I was having a rough go in my marriage.

I decided to pack up Chloe and take her for a walk on the boardwalk. I remember walking around in my own world trying to make sense of what to do.

I remember thinking why are so many people out on such a hot August day. I wondered if people were maybe as lost as I was at that moment.

All the sudden I notice a woman bumping into people and stumbling everywhere. People were just pushing her away. I was appalled and confused.

Chloe and I walked up to her. I tried to stabilize her as well as I could she was a lot bigger than me. I asked her if she was okay she just gave me this blank stare. I got her over to the bench I asked her if she had been drinking or taken any prescription drugs or otherwise. She said she hadn’t. In all honesty I didn’t believe her.

Maybe she was overheated? I reached into my purse and grabbed her the water I had packed for Chloe. She drank it like she had never seen a bottle of water before in her life.

A few minutes later I noticed she really needed help her eyes were bouncing all around her head. My first instinct was to put her into my car and get her to the ER. Then reality hit me. I couldn’t put a stranger into my car afterall I had no idea if or what she was on.

So I stayed with her until help arrived. The paramedics took my name. I remember thinking that was weird why did they want my name? Maybe it was protocol.. so I wrote down my name and handed him back the clipboard. I think it was a clipboard anyways.

After they took her away I started to walk and get lost into my own world again. I never really thought about her after that. I was too busy lost in my own feelings of pity.

A few days later I notice I had a new voicemail on my phone. As I listened to it I heard a well spoken thankful young woman. It was her the stranger I had helped on the board walk a few days earlier. She had left a message thanking me telling me that she was a diabetic and her sugars got dangerously high.

I never called her back. I’m not sure why I just didn’t. However, I still remember her and that day.