There are No Racial Boundaries in the Ladies’ Room
Last Sunday we made the long quiet drive home from Los Angeles after dropping our son off at Biola University. It had been an emotional week and I wanted to get home and begin our new normal — with only one child remaining in our nearly empty nest. Around Stockton, said child declared her hunger and asked for an In-N-Out stop. While waiting for her food, I stepped the restroom. (Did I mention, it’s a VERY long drive!)
In the ladies’ room was a woman deep in conversation with her son. He was maybe 10 years old and, I thought, a little old to be in a women’s restroom. But with so much craziness happening in the world today, I’d be tempted to keep my son at my side too. I was observing this mother-son duo at the sink, listening in to their conversation about his new dirt bike and her insistence that he always wear a helmet when he rides.
Caught up in my own thoughts, I didn’t realize I was staring until I saw the woman watching me watch them.
Racial tensions are high in the US right now, with Black Lives Matter protests nearly every day. Afraid my eavesdropping might be misconstrued, I quickly blurted out, “I just dropped my son off in college. In LA.”
The woman sized me up and said, “Momma needs a hug!”
Before I could respond, she had wrapped me in a hearty embrace — right in the middle of the In-N-Out restroom!
Her son must be used to her demonstrative behavior because he was clearly unphased by it.
I hugged her and thanked her. Tears streamed down my face, not because I was missing my son, but because I felt so blessed that a complete stranger, a lovely black stranger, had entered into my loss and comforted me.
Just moms who love their kids and understand each other’s hearts.
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When was the last time a stranger comforted you?
‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Mark 12:31
