This past weekend, I went home from college to spend time with my family, just relax, and unwind. Little did I know, it would quickly become a heart-wrenching experience that I truly felt the need to share.
When I woke up on Sunday morning, my parents had just come home from walking our dogs and I could immediately tell something was off. My mom was on the phone with someone, so I picked up on what had happened from just her side of the line. An older man that was walking alone on the greenbelt caught my mom's eye from a distance, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. About twenty minutes later, they came across a lady who told them she was searching for a man who had gone missing and asked if they had seen anyone. Sure enough, when they described the man from the brief glimpse they got of him, he matched the woman's description. He was an Alzheimer's patient that lived a few streets down from us who had been missing for over twenty-four hours.
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For the next few hours, they stayed in contact with the woman, did everything they could to help with the rescue, and spread the word around the neighborhood. Larger search teams were formed and the community truly came together in an attempt to find the man. I will not give too many details, in order to respect the privacy of his family, but he was later found in the woods. Sadly, it was too late and he had passed away. My heart shattered for him and his loved ones, although I did not know him prior to that day.
I believe that I happened to be visiting home that day for a reason, and it had a huge impact on me. Seeing how many people were willing to give so many hours of their time and energy to help (for most, a total stranger) was so touching. There was an outpouring of kindness, selflessness, and generosity that came from everyone. Although the outcome wasn't what we were praying for, we were still able to comfort the family through, quite possibly, one of the hardest times in the lives.
Before I left for College Station, I visited my 94 year old grandma and told her about what had happened. I'll never forget how she hugged me and told me, "I'm so lucky that I can see you, and hear you, and know who you are. That I have lived to be my age and still have my mind." My grandpa had suffered from dementia, so everything really hit home for my family.
It is so important that we never take life, or loved ones for granted because sometimes things just happen out of nowhere. We should always count our blessings rather than our troubles and be kind to others because you never know what they might be going through.
I will continue to pray for the family and hope that they find peace in this hard time, and invite anyone who read this to do so as well.
man running in forestPhoto by 
