It was a simple question the cashier asked me, but with an intensity in her eyes that I wasn’t used to- like she really wanted to know. She said she noticed I was undergoing treatment and knew how difficult it could be (the bald head with a bandana wrapped around it must have given it away). After my reply, she told me of her husband who had finished another round of chemo for stomach cancer.
Her story was sad. He could not be cured by surgery, so every couple of years he would undergo treatment again to prolong his life. He determined to continue this way as long as he could for the sake of his very young children, but he wasn’t sure he could continue longer then their upper teens as it was becoming increasingly difficult to get through the treatments. I felt compelled to pray for him and his family as often as remembered.
Over the next few months when I would see her at the store, she would always ask about me. Then over the next three years I would continue to see her but only rarely. Since I didn’t end up at her checkout we didn’t speak. Finally, she was there again and I was able to say hello. I asked about her husband’s welfare, and her children. She was surprised that I remembered her story, and I told her that I’d been praying for them. Her eyes welled up with tears, and she said, “Thank you,” then she came out from behind the counter and gave me a hug.
Two people not knowing each other very well, but touching each other’s lives with similar struggles, were able to bring a little comfort, a feeling of not being alone to one another. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.
(God) …who so wonderfully comforts and strengthens us in our hardships and trials. And why does he do this? So that when others are troubled, needing our sympathy and encouragement, we can pass on to them this same help and comfort God has given us. 2 Cor. 1:4 TLB
After we hugged I walked away thinking, “She’s not a stranger anymore!”