This guy kept staring at me from across the playground and I kept thinking oh Lord he’s one of those creeps that scout single moms at the park. My daughter eventually ran over to where he was so I followed. He said “hey thanks for pushing my son on the swing. It’s hard tending to four kids at a busy playground by yourself but I’ve been keeping an eye on him.” That opened up a conversation, as it usually does for me with random strangers in random places. His wife is terminally ill.

YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT PEOPLE ARE GOING THROUGH. You never know the suffering people hide behind busyness and smiles. You never know when someone is screaming inside, praying for a sign that everything will be okay, praying for a miracle, in desperate need of some encouragement. No one is really okay. We all have these battles we are fighting every day. Every face you see is hiding some kind of pain. I’ve never met someone who is just okay.

Sometimes, normal dad at playground having fun with kids = dying wife and needed to give the kids a normal dad at playground experience.

Life is crazy.