9/23/2014
Love For Lexi
I’m not much of a
drinker. When I do, it’s undoubtedly to
excess but I only make the decision to drink about twice a year. I’ve often said that the combination of a
hangover and dealing with a toddler the next day is like hell on crack.
Recently, I’ve been going out
just about every other Saturday night with my best friend Lisa and her all-but-in-name-husband Mike to karaoke. Not to
drink, but to drive them home.
What I’ve found at this bar
is a close knit group of friends who are welcoming, encouraging and full of
energy. Granted some of the shenanigans are likely due to the drinking, but
lets face it, it’s a bar.
It is also a grill which
means the kitchen is open until midnight, making the hours family friendly
until then. Occasionally, people will
bring their kids in to sing at karaoke which I have done in the past giving my
daughter a chance to shine for about three and a half minutes at a time.
One girl in particular is my
reason for this post. She doesn’t know
me that well, only in passing really. Her parents only know that Lisa and Mike are
two of my closest friends and that I will occasionally get the nerve to sing
one song. They also know that when I am there, I’ll be making sure our mutual
friends get home safely.
I know little about Lexi. She
just turned 16 and she has a beautiful singing voice. She is charismatic like
her dad and sassy like her mom. She’s confident in that fearless way that all
kids are, and she’s also sensitive to the needs of other people which tells me
she has a big heart. Since this last Saturday I’ve decided that it really
doesn’t matter what I don’t know about her.
What matters is that I care about her.
On Saturday the 20th,
Lexi was out picking up pizza in Mesa with her boyfriend. She was a passenger
in her parents van which was T-boned by another car traveling at 45-50 miles
per hour. Lexi’s body took the brunt of the impact. The left side of her body
having suffered multiple fractures from ankle to head, with brain bleeding in
three places.
From the instant I got the
call that she’d been injured, to this very moment I haven’t stopped thinking
about her. I say a silent prayer every time
she crosses my mind. I know that prayer is a powerful thing, but I am afraid
that one person’s prayer, one person’s love, is not enough.
I think about her parents and
the fact that they haven’t left her side since they got the call. How their
lives were changed in one instant. I know that this ache that I feel, this
infuriating powerlessness is not a fraction of what Lexi’s family is feeling. I
would give anything to ease their burden.
I’m not particularly religious
in the uniform sense, but I believe that something exists in this universe that
is greater than myself. More specifically I believe in God and I have seen his
work in action. I have seen what prayer can do, and that the power of love
regardless of faith is something that cannot be questioned, or broken.
Lexi is a 16 year old girl. You
don’t know her. In fact, I really don’t
know her all that well, but that doesn’t matter. She is someone’s daughter,
someone’s friend, the center of someone’s universe. Lexi is a light, no less bright than your own,
or one that you love. She is not my
daughter, but I feel a mother’s pain and helplessness at the injury she’s
sustained and the fear that is looming at the door. I know, with conviction
that the human spirit inside of that little girl is fierce and ready to heal
the body around it. I know, that in life, all living things respond to love,
and that prayer is the vehicle to give motion to the love and intention behind
every uttered breath from the heart.
I wish that I had all of the
money in the world to donate, to help this family, but I don’t. So I will pray.
I will ask the universe, the guy that spins this planet, the one that created
the first molecule that started this whole thing, Jesus, God whatever name the
divine prefers - to give love and healing to this girl who still deserves every
chance to live a full life. I will ask that people hear her story, give if they are able to give, but more than anything, I ask that they
pray for her healing.
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