Chance

Occasionally I come across a woman sitting under a tree in front of her apartment when I walk my dog. I've only started talking with her because my dog gravitates toward any human being that pays her attention. This morning I learned a little bit about her, that her and her husband work from home and that works out for them because of their daughter. She's about 8 years old and they can't seem to hold her attention for less than a couple of minutes. Not at home, not in the playground, and not even at school. School seems to be the most problematic because the teacher already has her hands full with a class full of students. She says she has ADD, and she refuses to put her on any medication. She loves her too much to take the quick-fix drug route. From the research she's done, she gathered that putting her on meds will fuck her up in the short and long term. So this is why she's always under that tree, with her teary eyes and red nose, praying for help or some sort of relief, because she doesn't know what to do.

What struck me the most was that she said the girl was her stepdaughter. Did she see this coming when she married the girl's father? Probably not, and if she did it didn't matter much because she adored the man. I don't think any of us can accurately foresee the trails and tribulations that lie ahead of us. We go into things, whether they're relationships, projects, businesses, deals, investments, you name it, with some sort of idea that things can go wrong, and never fully understanding what or how to prepare for it. But that's life for you. That's how it works. I think that no matter what you choose, there's always gonna be tests a long the way. So while you might expect everything to be peaches and cream, there's no doubt things at some point will be too uncomfortable, but not impossible, to handle.