Love in the Falls (15 page)
Authors: Rachel Hanna
When we did, I was pushing my youngest in the stroller and one of my toddler girls pointed ahead at a young African American couple standing at the end of the path. The woman was waving her hand at me, so I ran up ahead to see what she needed. I assumed she wanted to know what time it was.
As I got closer, I could tell she was holding the man up. I yelled for my husband who helped us get him to a bench near the parking lot at the end of the path. He was non-responsive and glassy eyed. We called 911, but they took a long time to get up the mountain. It was freezing cold, and people passed us by over and over without offering help.
We bundled up and kept talking to him. Turned out, the girl had just begun dating him. However, she was a rehab therapist and knew the signs of a stroke. When the ambulance arrived, we exchanged info and I kept in touch with her for months. She eventually started dating again and got married to someone else. I went to see the young man in the hospital and brought him some gifts (he loved NASCAR). He remembered me, and cried when he saw me come into his room.
Unfortunately, we lost touch once he and his girlfriend broke up. Last I heard, he was living in a rehab facility and would not be able to ever live on his own again.
I was thinking about this moment in my life, and I thought “what if a love story had bloomed from his scenario?” and this novel was born!
I hope you enjoyed the story of Sam and Camden, and know that I dedicate this book to a young man named Trevor who didn’t get the love story in the falls.
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