Prayers from strangers

I had my 2nd treatment in a row last Friday, August 15. This was the second half of my treatment from last week. It was also Karen Esplin’s last treatment. We had a party. She brought homemade cinnamon rolls and I brought a cheese roll and chips with salsa. It was fun party. I was done with my treatment pretty quick but stuck around for a while to visit. It was a great experience.
When we decided to leave, my mom, sister and I wanted to go grab a bite to eat, despite my nausea and lack of appetite. We picked the nearest place of convenience which happened to be ARBY’s. America’s Roast Beef, Yes Sir! After ordering our selections, my mom and I searched for a table. Along the way, I passed a young gentleman who smiled a subdued sort of empathetic smile. I am kind of used to this, now. By this point, I have no eyebrows, no eyelashes and I wear a head wrap to conceal my bald head. It still doesn’t cover up the fact that I am sick. I smiled back and proceeded past him.
A few moments later, as we were waiting for our food, this same man walked up to my mom and me and said, “Would it be all right if I played with you?”
Wha?! I was thinking this guy was a registered pedafile or perv. What stranger says that to 2 women.
Thinking I had mistakenly heard him, I said, “I’m sorry?”
“Would it be alright if I prayed for you?” He repeated.
Okay, now I felt like an idiot. Oops.
“Sure.” I replied.
So there we were, in the middle of a fast food restaurant, heads humbled and eyes closed, offering a prayer to God. It was a beautiful prayer. I don’t know what faith this young man was but he truly was inspired to comfort me that day. He prayed for my health, for the doctors and for those around me to be comforted. It was amazing. When he was done, we all said our quiet “amens.” He gently patted me on the shoulder to assure me that everything would be okay. I graciously said, “Thank you,” and he went to sit and enjoy his meal, alone.
My sister approached during the middle of the prayer and didn’t want to interrupt so she carefully placed our food down and backed away.
When we opened our eyes we saw that our food had miraculously come but my sister had disappeared. After the man left, all I could was point at the tray and look inquisitively at my mom to see if she had an answer to this mysteriously appearing food. Then I saw my sister over the booth and she just gave me a simple nod to confirm my suspicions. If we had been praying for roast beef sandwiches at the moment, our prayers would have been answered faster than we could say amen.
It was a great day that day and I will never forget the perfect stranger who was inspired to offer a simple prayer on behalf of my health. To him I will always say thank you. And not just to him but I know of all the many hundreds of people both strangers and not, who have offered multiple prayers on my behalf. Thank you.