What was supposed to be an ordinary day of doing groceries turned into a chance encounter with a little girl that transformed my life in unimaginable ways.
My life was steady, my career solid, and I was happy with the way things were.
And then, one day, everything changed.
While doing my groceries, I went around the aisles, and when I returned to my shopping cart, I saw a little girl in it.
I asked her where her parents were, but she didn’t say anything, so I went around the store in order to try and find her mom or dad, but no one seemed to be looking for their lost child.
After 20 minutes, the girl grabbed me by the hand and said, “Don’t give me back. I’m scared.”
I got scared as well, and decided to take her home for the night. When my sister Melissa, who was staying with me at the time while going through some personal struggles, saw me, she was shocked.
“Who’s this?” she asked. When I told her what happened, she started yelling at me. “You can’t just take a random child home. Her parents must be worried sick. What were you thinking?”
But I only cared for the little girl who was in distress.
In the morning, someone knocked on the door. It was social services. I realized Melissa alerted them of Lia without telling me.
They took her with them, saying they would try to locate her family.
Lia looked at me and asked me where she was going. I felt the urge to comfort her and tell her that everything was going to be just fine, but I didn’t believe those words myself. I had no idea what future held for her.
After doing some research with the help of a friend of mine who worked at the police, I learned that Lia had a mom and that this wasn’t the first time she ran away from home.
Worried, I decided to pay the mom a visit the following morning.
The house where they lived was rather old. I knocked on the door and there she was, a fragile woman, looking at me with confussion.
“How can I help you?” she asked me. I told her about meeting Lia and that she was safe at the hands of the social workers.
The woman started crying. She explained that after the passing of her husband, she had a hard time taking care of her daughter. She was sick and experienced anxiety, which left her unable to work and provide for Lia.
The conversation I was about to start was a hard one, but I had to do it for Lia’s sake.