Ateneo De Naga high school 1980

Those who do not remember history are bound to live through it again.

Monday, August 15, 2011

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...