Memorial on the Side of the Road

I drove by a local vegetable stand today. It was raining and as I passed by a small little memorial on the side of the road I felt particularly sad. You see, the memorial was for a baby, Aniston Walker. The baby went missing last winter. Her picture was all over social media. She looked so much like a Cabbage Patch Doll that I just fell in love with her picture. I cried and prayed that by some miracle the little baby Aniston would be found alive.

Weeks later the child was found. A motorcyclist parked on the side of the road by the vacant vegetable stand. The vegetable stand was closed for the winter and no one would be checking out the property for months. It just happened that while he waited for his friends to arrive, the motorcyclists glanced in the ditch and saw the decomposing body of the precious little girl.

I feel pensive whenever I pass that fruit stand and I drive that route regularly. What if the baby was still alive when she was tossed in the ditch like an empty Coke can? Did I drive past on the way to work and missed seeing her? Could I, or anyone else, have saved her life?

Realistically, I know she was probably dead before being tossed in that cold ditch. Had I seen her, I still couldn't have saved her.

 Still, it all makes me wonder how many people we pass in the course of a day that need our help. I hope I won't miss seeing the next one.