"Indy," I said, trying to keep my voice hopeful, "it’s not the end of the world. I promise.” I admitted that I, a fully grown adult with a mortgage and responsibilities, have made more mistakes than anyone I know. I guess the point is that we ALL have made mistakes.
"Mama, I feel terrible about the insurance. I really do. But there’s a little more to this than that…” She sighed dramatically. “What if this is a sign that I'm not good enough to get accepted into the foreign exchange program? It could be the universe confirming that? Maybe G✡︎d looked my driving record and thought, ‘Yeah, hard pass on the cultural exchange for this one.’”
“Indy...” I hugged her, squeezing out a laugh. "I don’t think G✡︎d or the universe sends out tickets as rejection letters. The foreign exchange folks would be crazy not to accept you. You are brilliant and kind. It’ll work out the way it’s supposed to. Grandma Stilson always said that life has a funny way of showing us exactly what we need to learn.”
Days later, something truly timely arrived in the mail: reference letters. Teachers, family, and friends all wrote glowing accounts, detailing Indy's resilience, kindness, and intellectual drive. They’d written pages and pages of evidence that Indy is, in fact, the opposite of a failure. As she read their words, I watched the excitement and gratitude flooding her features. The initial impact of the ticket and the fear of rejection all shrank into the insignificant speck they truly were. Now, the potential and goodness everyone sees in her finally became the truth she realized in herself.
“Is this what it’s been like, when people have been so kind to you as you’ve fought cancer?” she whispered, the unexpected emotional pivot hitting me hard.
Fighting cancer has definitely been a test of will for me. There have been many times when I’ve thought about stopping treatments, trading the struggle for a moment of peace. But the only reason I’ve kept showing up for infusions, radiation, and even surgeries is because I’m trying to be the person my loved ones think I am. Their belief is my reason to continue on because I simply want more time with them.
It’s a peculiar, human paradox: We can be at our physically weakest while fighting a disease like cancer, yet it’s the love and strength others see in us that helps us persevere. “Yes,” I nodded to Indy, a lump forming in my throat. “When people believe in us, it can make even hard things seem somehow manageable.”
So, the ticket gave Indy a priceless lesson: She is not defined by her mistakes but by the good she brings to the world—the good others inevitably reflect back to her.
I am so grateful we’re surrounded by such incredible people. Their love has seen us through so much, and now it’s helping us stay strong, teaching that even a simple ticket can carry a huge life-lesson.
