Random stop on beach in Texas brings hope

The warm sandy beach stretched for miles with hardly a soul in sight. A random stop on the two-lane roadway had brought us to this sun-kissed spot — a spontaneous decision I would later ponder.

“What do you think about stopping somewhere along here?” my husband, Bill, had asked shortly after making a U-turn in our rental car at a South Padre Island dead end, the Texas Gulf Coast road partly covered with drifting sand.

In short order he had edged the vehicle onto the sandy asphalt shoulder as I strained to see what lay beyond the sand dunes. This looked like a perfect place to meander in flip-flops and put our toes into the chilly surf.

We walked, searched for seashells and then started to turn back when Bill spied something in the distance — fishing poles anchored in the saltwater.

“Let’s walk a little further and ask those fishermen what they’re catching,” Bill said as we stepped around the incoming tide.

But just as we were about 25 yards from the men, a young woman and little boy approached from the sand dunes, our paths intersecting at the water’s edge. I couldn’t help but notice the pink design on her black shirt and a pink necklace sparkling in the light.

“Your T-shirt is so pretty,” I said as we met unexpectedly. “It looks almost like the breast cancer survivor design my husband put on my car.”

Bill showed her a photo and then headed off to talk with the fishermen while our conversation became more personal. Melissa had been diagnosed with a different type of cancer, one she had been courageously fighting with traditional treatment.

“I decided to stop doing chemo,” the pretty mom told me while her son played nearby, explaining she was trying a holistic naturopathic approach — and a lot of prayer. “My doctor says I’ll need another surgery, but my situation has actually improved. He says to keep on doing what I’m doing.”

My heart leapt as I listened to her words, remembering my own experience.

“Twelve years ago this month I chose a natural approach after surgery to fight my cancer,” I explained with enthusiasm.

Melissa looked at me, her face filling with emotion as she and I both realized the improbability of two souls with a similar cancer journey now meeting on an empty beach — one to offer hope to the other.

And in my heart I knew. With God, nothing is ever random.

This story was originally published February 28, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Random stop on beach in Texas brings hope."