An innocence lost.

"You're not as nice as you used to be!"

-my mother-

My mother likes to tell a story she heard from an elderly lady who was choir director at our church, United Methodist Church of Prescott, Arkansas.

Having been approached by a couple lost and needing directions, this elderly lady answered,

"Can't get there from here."

(everyone laughs)

I'm sure the choir director was just making herself the object of the joke, and the couple got to where they were going.

But did they?

Should this be funny without being sure?

Mother hates it when I question her stories.

My version of the same story.

(hypothetical excercise)

While working in front yard ,

a car pulls over to the curb where this elderly lady is planting flowers.

Inside,

 a young woman

obviously frightened and alone,

is lost and needs directions to

an abortion clinic.

Made uncomfortable by the question,
the elderly lady answers,
as she turns and head back toward the house,

"Can't get there from here."

****

I'd like to believe this choir director would have shown empathy.
Maybe, 

even offering to go with her;
if only,
to just hold her hand.

****

It doesn't have to be my problem,
or
even real
 to
understand the feeling of being alone
and
on your own.

****






"A child is nothing more than a blank page that everyone leaves his mark upon."


-chinese proverb-