The girl at the gas station.

Very early this morning, my wife and I drove to the car rental store to return the SUV that we rented. Before dropping the vehicle, we stopped by a gas station to put in gas. While pumping gas, a young girl approached us and asked if we can spare some money for her to buy food. I noticed that the girl was purposely hiding part of her face with her hair. My wife handed me a few dollars to give to this young girl whom I think is between 18-20 years old. When I gave the money to the young girl, I noticed that she had a wound on her forehead and it was bleeding. Feeling embarrazed that I noticed her wound, she hurriedly took the money and humbly thanked me.

As the young girl walked away, I wondered where her parents are. Don’t they know that their young daughter is hurt and is begging for money from strangers at a gas station? What really saddened me was this girl looked like she did not have a hard life during her early years because she looked like a typical college student. She did not appear to have any other physical signs of neglect or gang-type tattoos on her body. As I got back inside the cozy comfort of the SUV, I wondered why that girl slid down in life. I will never know…

When I came home this afternoon and saw my beautiful daughter, I gave her a hug and asked her if she needed anything. She looked at me with her smiling eyes and said, “I am ok, dad”.

My daughter is fortunate to have a secured and safe home. But out there is a lonely girl that has a bleeding wound on both her head and also her heart...