No Chance Meeting By Carole H. Sharp

You Just Never Know

No Chance Meeting

I was talking to my friend Carole Hines Sharp the other day and oddly enough what started out as a conversation about Girl Scout Cookies, ended up being a conversation about how we never know who, how, when or where God will place people in our lives.  Carole Hines Sharp is a wife, mother and survivor of an extremely rare form of cancer (Triple Negative Cancer), which makes this story even more heartwarming and heartfelt.  I asked Carole to write about how Girl Scout Cookies put her in a position to be a blessing to someone.

This Was No Chance Meeting

It was not a chance meeting when two little girls knocked on the door selling Girl Scout Cookies when one of them noticed the Support the Cure T- Shirt that I was wearing.  Admiringly, she asked, “Are you a Supporter?”  I smiled and said, “I am a Survivor.”  Lovingly, she turned to the woman waiting on the sidewalk and said,  “My mother is going through that right now”.   I looked toward the woman draped in a beautiful scarf to hide the effects of the chemotherapy that she is currently enduring.

As a Survivor of Triple Negative Breast Cancer myself, my Sisterhood immediately kicked in and I rushed out to the sidewalk to give her a hug.  I learned that she too is Triple Negative, a very aggressive form of Breast Cancer that unlike other forms of breast cancer,  does not respond to hormone therapies.   As we discussed our commonalities, it became immediately apparent that my Sister, in addition to battling breast cancer, was also battling personal circumstances as well.  It was also even more apparent that this was no chance meeting.

Cancer is a disease that thrives off of stress and as she shared her story, the tears began to stream down her face.  I immediately gave her a hug and vowed to be her Sister, her Support.

We do not know what a person is going through and we should never assume anything.  I was immediately reminded of the love and support that I had when I was diagnosed with breast cancer and as I went through treatment.   My new friend will always be my Sister.   At that moment, I again “Hit the Reset Button” on my life to be an inspiration to someone every day.  To be a light for someone whose own light seems dim.  We ARE our brothers’ keepers!  Whose spirit can you lift today?

Carole Hines Sharp
Wife, Mother, Triple Negative Breast Cancer Survivor

I want to thank Carole for this post and hope that it serves as a reminder that not only can we “Hit the Reset Button” on our own lives, but our actions can also help someone else to “Hit the Reset Button” as well.  Don’t ever block your blessing by passing up an opportunity to share your story and lend a hand to someone who needs it.  That meeting may turn out to be “no chance meeting after all.”

Thanks to Carole for being a guest blogger and sharing this story.

“Every day presents another opportunity to hit the reset button on your life.”  Charita Cadenhead