They told me she was running out of time. They said she had one week – two weeks tops. There was no “if”, it was now simply a matter of when. So we left.
She wanted to go to the beach. In all of her six years she had never been to the beach. Her dad had promised her he would take her for her fifth birthday. A drunk driver had robbed him – robbed them both- of that chance. So I decided she would spend her last week at the beach.
She didn’t know where we were going when I got her up early that Thursday morning. I had packed our bags the night before and loaded them in the trunk of my car. She walked sleepily to the car, buckled up in her booster seat, and quickly drifted back to sleep as I began to drive.
She looked so peaceful. You would never have guessed while looking at her that such a small little girl had endured so much pain and suffering. She looked so normal as she slept in the backseat of our car.
As the day continued, I drove further and further south. She finally woke up and began to fill the car with the sounds of her sweet little voice. She told me about everything she could think to tell me about. I heard all about her dreams, the cars we passed, the dog she saw out the window at the hospital, and all sorts of other things she found interesting.
As we got farther and farther south, things began looking more like a beach. She began to yell and squeal as she finally realized where we were going. The conversation quickly turned to sand castles and fish as she thought about all the things she wanted to do.
We checked into a small room in a beach side hotel and changed into our bathing suits. She practically dragged me to the water, laughing all the way there. It didn’t take her long to find a seashell, and many others quickly followed. We made a huge sand castle, buried each other in the sand, and even tried to make sand angels.
As the week went on, she got weaker. Each day provided new challenge, and by Tuesday we could do little more than sit in the sand and watch the waves. It hurt to see my once hyper, active little girl sitting there looking so weak and powerless. A tear escaped as I thought of what was sure to happen in the days to come. I didn’t think she saw it until I noticed that she was crying too. I asked her what was wrong, and she laid her head in my lap and told me she wanted me to see Jesus too.
We sat there for awhile, happy to enjoy each other’s presence. Not a word was spoken for a long time as she lay there in my lap watching the waves. It was so peaceful. A huge smile spread across her face as one last tear ran down her cheek. She was healed.
