Hitchhikers
A few weeks ago, Burke, Cassie, and I loaded up and drove to Ephraim where we met my parents and the Kirby Family for my baby sister Tasha's opening night of "West Side Story." We had a great time cheering Tasha on at her show, staying up late at the hotel and talking while Burke and my Dad tried to sleep (ha ha!), going early the next morning to the Manti Temple and having an awesome lunch of Chinese food.
Seeing the family was awesome, but the weekend was made unique in an entirely different way. We picked up our very first set of hitchhikers! This is NOT a normal thing for us, but a series of events led to two young strangers sitting in the back seat with Cassie for two hours. Here's what happened.
On our way up to Tasha's show we had stopped in Salina for subways and saw this a scraggly looking couple out in the freezing cold snow. Burke was a great example to Cassie and I as he turned around the car after we had already left and returned to give them some cash. He said the young man's eyes looked so shocked and all that was said was, "Thank you man, thank you." We had warm fuzzies because of the experience and went on our merry way.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiC1TN0WDJWsHXlwckYDEG2LmljGdOT0z71kB87TlbrFim2364aA-LB1e1MP2PUCPSilzWFaTzvqF-Au7dAKwzh8-fT1JcR9dJDOzI9dqh-q2FrLIkSiRskO0bNt-7mrp6N5vSTWDZhZXY/s400/hitchhike-effectively-800X800.jpg)
When they first got in, the stench of cigarette smoke quickly consumed the whole car and for the first couple minutes it was a little bit awkward. But the more we talked, the more grateful I was that Burke had been prompted to stop. These two had lived incredibly difficult lives. The boy was just 20 and had been in and out of foster homes for 10 years of his life. He said when he was 10, his mom had given him Meth and he had been instantly addicted which led to life in and out of jail as well as foster homes. The girl was 18, had also been a drug addict and they had just found out they were pregnant. After we had talked for quite some time, Cassie, in a very sincere but firm way said, "You two have had hard lives and what you choose to do with yourselves is one thing, but that baby deserves to live a happy healthy life. It deserves to have it better than you did." Rather than being offended, they both seemed grateful for the advice to not smoke while the girl was pregnant as Cassie filled them in on all the things cigarette smoke can do to harm the baby.
I'm making it sound like she lectured her, but she didn't at all. It was a very genuine conversation and by the time we dropped them off in St. George at a truck stop, my heart was full of sorrow for the difficult lives they had led and gratitude for the many blessing we have been given. I am so grateful I grew up in a home filled with love and happiness. I realize more and more that my childhood experience of a 2 parent home filled with love and laughter is an increasingly rare occurance in our day and age. THANK YOU Mom and Dad for not giving me drugs as a pre adolescent and for being there for me no matter what. I feel very blessed to be your daughter.
Seeing the family was awesome, but the weekend was made unique in an entirely different way. We picked up our very first set of hitchhikers! This is NOT a normal thing for us, but a series of events led to two young strangers sitting in the back seat with Cassie for two hours. Here's what happened.
On our way up to Tasha's show we had stopped in Salina for subways and saw this a scraggly looking couple out in the freezing cold snow. Burke was a great example to Cassie and I as he turned around the car after we had already left and returned to give them some cash. He said the young man's eyes looked so shocked and all that was said was, "Thank you man, thank you." We had warm fuzzies because of the experience and went on our merry way.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiC1TN0WDJWsHXlwckYDEG2LmljGdOT0z71kB87TlbrFim2364aA-LB1e1MP2PUCPSilzWFaTzvqF-Au7dAKwzh8-fT1JcR9dJDOzI9dqh-q2FrLIkSiRskO0bNt-7mrp6N5vSTWDZhZXY/s400/hitchhike-effectively-800X800.jpg)
The very next afternoon as we drove home, Cassie and I were napping when Burke began to pull over to the side of the road and said, "Sorry girls. Cassie, can you sit up?" Here was this same couple out in the middle of a blizzard on the side of the highway. As they came up to the car we heard them say, "It's the same people!"
When they first got in, the stench of cigarette smoke quickly consumed the whole car and for the first couple minutes it was a little bit awkward. But the more we talked, the more grateful I was that Burke had been prompted to stop. These two had lived incredibly difficult lives. The boy was just 20 and had been in and out of foster homes for 10 years of his life. He said when he was 10, his mom had given him Meth and he had been instantly addicted which led to life in and out of jail as well as foster homes. The girl was 18, had also been a drug addict and they had just found out they were pregnant. After we had talked for quite some time, Cassie, in a very sincere but firm way said, "You two have had hard lives and what you choose to do with yourselves is one thing, but that baby deserves to live a happy healthy life. It deserves to have it better than you did." Rather than being offended, they both seemed grateful for the advice to not smoke while the girl was pregnant as Cassie filled them in on all the things cigarette smoke can do to harm the baby.
I'm making it sound like she lectured her, but she didn't at all. It was a very genuine conversation and by the time we dropped them off in St. George at a truck stop, my heart was full of sorrow for the difficult lives they had led and gratitude for the many blessing we have been given. I am so grateful I grew up in a home filled with love and happiness. I realize more and more that my childhood experience of a 2 parent home filled with love and laughter is an increasingly rare occurance in our day and age. THANK YOU Mom and Dad for not giving me drugs as a pre adolescent and for being there for me no matter what. I feel very blessed to be your daughter.
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