The Girl At The End Of The Road

Every day there is a girl sitting on the big rock at the end of the road.

She waits for one of her siblings to get off the bus.

I think she’s high school aged.

The first time I saw her sitting there I waved at her as I turned down the road.

The girl at the end of the road did not wave back.

She didn’t smile, either.

Maybe she didn’t see me, I thought.

The second time I saw the girl at the end of the road, I waved and smiled again.

The girl did not wave back.

She didn’t smile, either.

Huh. Maybe she’s just really shy, I thought.

The third time I saw the girl at the end of the road, I waved and smiled again.

The girl did not wave back.

She didn’t smile, either.

I stopped keeping track after that.

But I kept waving and smiling every time I saw the girl at the end of the road, sitting on the rock.

She kept not waving and not smiling.

Last week I was heading toward home on the same roads I always take.

I started thinking about the girl at the end of the road.

What the heck is wrong with her? I thought.

Why won’t she just wave back at me? I wondered.

I contemplated not waving anymore.

And not smiling.

I thought maybe I’d pretend not to see her at all.

I’d just drive past her and ignore her, the same way she had been ignoring me.

Maybe she wouldn’t even be there. Then there would be no issue.

As I pulled up to the road, there she was.

The girl at the end of the road was sitting on the rock, waiting for the bus.

To ignore or not to ignore. That was the question.

Maybe she was afraid to wave or smile because I had become the weird blond lady who waved at her every day. Maybe I was freaking her out.

But maybe she was afraid to wave or smile because someone had quit on her before. Maybe she didn’t trust people in general.

Since I didn’t know the reason, I decided not to quit on her.

I waved. And I smiled.

And last week, the girl at the end of the road sitting on the rock waved back.

And she smiled!

Imagine if I had chosen that day, the day she was ready to wave and smile back, to quit on her.

That could have done some damage.

And it would have been a bummer. For both of us.

Because every day since then, the girl on the rock at the end of the road has waved back.

The world became just a little friendlier for both of us.

I’m glad we didn’t miss out on that.

Think about the girl on the rock at the end of the road the next time you are ready to quit on yourself.

Keep showing up for you.

That thing you want is not outside of your grasp.

You just gotta keep smiling.

You gotta keep waving.

And you gotta keep showing up.