We went on a Disney cruise back when I was about 6 or 7. I was so upset because the cruise dates conflicted with our school's world presentation, and my class was Mexico. I'd worked so hard, and it hurt that I couldn't participate because of some stupid cruise. It was only for a few days, 5 at most.
The first full day on the ship, I was playing by myself in the small pool following a trip down the waterslide. My mom was watching me, sunning and talking to this one family. My new stepdad was off with his 12-year-old daughter; she had zero interest in me or my interests, but I didn't blame her. As I was playing, I befriended this girl. She was about my age, skinny with dirty blonde hair. Her name was Amanda; she was from Georgia. I don't remember much else, but we had a ball together. We were inseparable the entire cruise, going through the waterslide too many times to count while we refueled with the free soft serve ice cream cones. Because we were so close, my mom and Amanda's family got to talking a lot, but my age prevented me from hearing what they had to say or even caring about their conversations. I was having fun, for the first time since my parents' divorce and remarriages and my dog dying and my best friend moving away. I was happy.
When the cruise was over, Amanda and I parted ways, and I remember her telling me that we'd keep in touch (we'd used different words but that's the gist of it). Our moms traded addresses, and on the long car ride back home from the ship's port, my mom told me I should write a letter to her or something like that, but as far as I was concerned I was too tired and sun-soaked to care, not to mention at that age I was fairly selfish. About a few weeks after we got home, I remember getting a brief postcard from my cruise friend, and I smiled at it. I set aside the time, in my mind, to write her back, but I forget if I ever did. I didn't hear from her after that.
Years later, maybe about last year or something recent, my mom and I were talking about how I can't make friends easily and I'm really awkward and whatnot, and she brought up that Disney cruise from forever ago. I smiled.
"You probably made that girl's entire life," she said.
"I highly doubt that. If I wrote her now, she wouldn't even remember who I was." She turned to me with this solemn look on her face.
"Honey, didn't you know she was with Make-A-Wish? She was dying. Her family couldn't afford the trip on their own. She passed away soon after the cruise ended." I'd nodded then in understanding and haven't really thought about it since.
Looking back to those 5 days, I wonder. Why me? Why her? Out of all the kids in that pool, out of all the kids I could've ran into and struck up a friendship, I ran into Amanda from Georgia. I was probably the first person who hadn't treated her like she was sick or dying, and it must've been refreshing. What if she'd been alone that whole time, playing by herself or with her family? That's no way for a kid to spend a Disney vacation. It proves my theory that everything happens for a reason, and while she was a brief friendship for me, I was so much more to her. And at the end of the day, well today, knowing I helped some poor child feel better is a pretty awesome feeling.
I'm not entirely sure why I chose to share this today. Probably because lately, I've felt kinda lost and unsure about the purpose of a lot of things in my life. This story revives my faith in knowing all things have a reason.
Love,
Caitlyn
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