It takes confidence to love a stranger

   

       I decided to grab a bite to eat while out shopping at the mall this past weekend. As I scanned the different food vendors menu's and was trying to carefully make my choice as if picking out a pair of shoes, I'd suddenly lost my appetite. One minute I was starving and my stomach was singing 'Feed me Seymour' and the next minute the smell of the food court was just making me nauseous.
     I knew that my appetite would eventually come back so I decided to grab something anyway. I randomly chose this little grilled sub sandwich shop to keep it simple. As I was waiting for the sandwich my attention moved from the sandwich on the grill to the guy cooking it. I noticed how happy he was and how wide his smile extended. I hadn't seen a smile that big in a while; not even on my own face. I couldn't help but to start a conversation with him and join in on the delight of his inner joy.
     From speaking with this 21 year old gentleman for about 7 minutes I learned that his 60 year old father was dying from cancer, his mother had passed several years earlier from pneumonia, he had to drop out of school to get a job to help his father, and they were about to be evicted from their apartment because lack of sufficient income; yet he was the most positive person I'd encountered that day.
     I walked away with my perfectly crafted sub sandwich in one hand and my department store bags full of cute clothes in the other, and had every reason to have a smile on my face; but I didn't. I was irritated because I splurged a little too much on shopping, grumpy because I'd lost my appetite but wanted to stuff my face with a juicy 3 pound burger, and pissed that I had to walk another 10 minutes to my car from the food court. Yet, this young man who had every reason to be negative-wasn't.
     When I finally made it to my car I sat for a few minutes and thought about this guy. I wondered if there was a particular reason we crossed paths. Had it not been for me losing my appetite I probably would've chosen a juicy 3 pound burger and missed out on an opportunity to meet a very special guy. This young man was truly a blessing to meet and I thank God for these moments. I realized that I cared about that guy and sincerely wished him the best outcome for his circumstances. But something tells me that he will be just fine.