Years ago my wife Tina and I sponsored a young girl in Ecuador, for years we sent a check to her family via a relief organization (one of the ones that builds a school in the village and helps feed a child and provides education as well). This little girl was perhaps 7 years old when we got a picture from the organization along with a letter.
The picture was of her mother holding a trash bag full of things (I could make out a pair of flip flops) and I remember she had a very sad look on her face. The letter explained how the girl we were sponsoring had gone fishing with her dad down at a local river. Her father had seen some pigs in the nearby vegetation and ran off after them hoping for an easy meal. When he returned his daughter was nowhere to be found. The looked and looked but could not find any trace of her, but somehow had decided that she must have been eaten by a snake. They found a very large snake nearby and killed it and found his dead daughter inside.
I was thinking about this today as I tried to fit my groceries into my completely full refrigerator, and I remembered the little girls picture that used to hang on my refrigerator. The same picture I hung the letter on. The letter explained how she had died and asked if we wanted the stuff in the bag her mom was holding back since the litter girl was no longer going to be able to use the items. Of course I said keep the items and give them to her brothers and sisters. I tried to support the family but his organization had strict age rules and the brothers and sisters did not fall in the correct ages for them to support.
So there I was looking at my over stuffed refrigerator, thinking of that little girl, and about my little girl. My daughter is getting married in 8 days, she did not get eaten by a snake, and we have too much food.
Life is good today, and now I think I will say a prayer for the family we used to support all those years ago. I bet when you daughter gets eaten by a snake the pain never goes away.
It is good here in St. Louis, MO. I love my job as an auctioneer, I get to work with my family, all my family (at least for one more auction). Next week my daughter gets married and moves away, but at least she did not get eaten by a snake.
Update: Our daughter has been gone for years, living the life of an Air Force wife. She has lived at Whitman Airbase and is currently at Hill Air Force Base in Utah, but will soon be returning home to stay with us while her husband is deployed again. She has still not been eaten by a snake.