Courage, pass it on

A man sat there in the waiting room, waiting anxiously for his doctor's appointment. He looked like he hadn't slept in weeks and felt like it too. He just wanted to crawl into a hole and surrender to death rather than allow himself to be a prisoner to his thoughts. He had scary thoughts, ones that assumed the worst of his situation.
He was in the middle of those thoughts when a little girl, no older than seven, skipped out of the doctor's office and into the waiting room. Her mother followed closely behind, her face was grim but you could obviously see that she was trying to hold herself together. She kept telling her daughter to sit down, that the jumping around wasn't good for her.
The man starred at the girl, and felt a wave of sympathy for her. They both shared one devastating thing in common; both were bald. The little girl saw him starring and made her way over to the man and plopped down in the chair beside him. He tried his best to smile, for the young girl's sake, but it didn't seem to be able to come through. She looked at him grinned as though she just received the best news of her life, but being in this part of the hospital, he was sure she didn't.
"Why won't you smile?" She seemed utterly confused.
"I have nothing to smile for." The man replied honestly.
She laughed, "Think of something happy or funny and close your eyes. That's what mom always says to do. It works too," she nodded eagerly at him.
He looked at her skeptically before closing his eyes. He thought of last summer when everything was so simple. He was visiting his brother like he does once a year and they were out on the lake discussing the things they'd done in the past year. Both were laughing and having a drink, pleased to be with each other once again.
He smiled at the memory, happy to be able to relive it. He opened his eyes to find the little girl starring at him in awe then she opened her mouth once more, "Now, next time you're in a scary place, think about that. Mom says that smiling helps; it's the best kind of medicine."
"Your mother is a wise woman."
"Olivia! Stop bugging that man. Go wait in the hall; I'll be there in a second."  The little girl obediently waved good-bye before leaving the cramped little waiting room. The mother sighed, exasperated, "Sorry, she's been a little lonely lately and likes to find new people to talk to."
"Don't worry about it. She made my day, really. You have a wonderful daughter there, she'll do great things."
The mother gave a tight smile, "Let's pray she gets the chance, we didn't get the best of news but she'll push through." The mother thanked him again before leaving the waiting room and off to find her daughter.
The man sighed and felt rather ashamed of himself; here he was worrying about the news he would receive when a little girl just received devastating news and she was many years younger. She still hasn't gotten a chance to experience the things he has and she receives this news with a smile plastered on her face, readying herself for the battle that is yet to come.

I still remember that day so clearly now because that young girl gave me the one thing that I desperately needed.
                      Courage, Pass it on.