When Dan needed to think, he thought best when he could walk in the sand in the cool of the night. There was something about the feel of his bare feet and the sand of the beach that helped him focus on whatever was troubling him.

His only son died six months ago. He was only six. It was an accident he knew but there were so many what ifs. He had to be strong. He had a wife and three daughters. He grew up knowing men rarely showed emotion. He knows how broken up his wife is but it is hard to reach out. He feels there was so much that he should have done and that if he had his son would still is alive. How can he reach out to her when she must hate him so for allowing their son to be in a place where he could get killed?

After having three daughters Dan was so proud when his son was born. He did everything with his son almost from birth. Dan is a family man. He married for life. His wife and children mean more to him than all of the money and treasure in the world. He always made me time for each of his children.

The day Dan’s son died, he had asked his daughters and wife to join him and his son to watch an Atlanta Brave’s game. They all had other things to do. Even at age six his son was already an avid Atlanta Braves fan. He bought his son an official Atlanta Braves baseball. He wished he had never bought the ball. Dan found a parking lot six blocks from Turner Field because parking was cheaper.

The Braves won a great game. Dan and his son were having such a great walk talking together as they walked back to the their car. Dan’s son was throwing his ball up in the air and trying to catch it as he walked. He rarely did and so spent as much time running after the ball as he did walking to the car. Until the moment Dan’s son was killed the ball had never gone out in to the street. When it did Dan’s son ran after it. Neither Dan nor his son saw the bus that ran over him until the last moment.

There was so much Dan should and shouldn’t have done. He should never have taken his son to the baseball game. He should never have bought him the ball. He should have held his hand and more. How could his wife love him any more? How could his daughters even think he cared for them at all when he had let their little brother die. He needed to reach out to his wife and to his daughters but how?

Tears that had needed to fall but had not fallen before fell now. They fell in the sand in the cool of the night. As they did he looked down and noticed another set of footprints in the sand. He wondered whom they belonged to and if that person was like him, making footprints in the sand in the cool of the night because something was troubling them. He wondered if they were, what might be troubling that person.

Those footprints belonged to Pamela. When Pamela needed to think, she thought best when she could walk in the sand in the cool of the night. There was something about the feel of her bare feet and the sand of the beach that helped her focus on whatever was troubling her. Tonight she really needed to think.

Pamela was fifty-three years old and had never been married. Sixty years earlier she might have been called an old maid. Thank goodness she wasn’t living sixty years earlier. It wasn’t that she was unattractive. She wasn’t gorgeous either but she could be called pretty if you looked at her in the right light she thought. It wasn’t that she hadn’t had suitors. She had boyfriends though not in the last four or five years.

Her mother had told her so many times you are just too fussy. Maybe she was but she had always hoped the one man who was right for her would sweep her off of her feet but he must have had the wrong address because he never came to her house. She wondered that at her age she should stop waiting or stop looking.

She had lots of friends, men and women. She had two girlfriends she could always talk to. She had a large family who was forever looking after her. All right they looked after her too much sometimes but they meant well and she loved them. She had a great job with great benefits and a boss who couldn’t be kinder. She owned a little three bedroom white home with a picket fence around the front yard, which she had put in as soon as she had bought the house. She had two little Carrin Terriers. Life was good but something was missing.

She had come to walk in the sand with a decision to make. The decision for her was to continue looking for her special man or to accept that fact she would never have someone love her the way so many other women are loved.

As she thought on this decision she noticed another set of footprints in the sand. She wondered whom they belonged to and if that person was like her, making footprints in the sand in the cool of the night because something was troubling them. She wondered if they were, what might be troubling that person.

Those footprints belonged to Grace. When Grace needed to think, she thought best when she could walk in the sand in the cool of the night. There was something about the feel of her bare feet and the sand of the beach that helped her focus on whatever was troubling her. Tonight she really needed to think.

Six months ago Grace’s only son had died in a tragic accident near Turner Field in Atlanta. He was only six years old. He was with her husband when he died. It was an accident that no one could have helped. Grace has had to be strong for her three daughters. Her husband has grown so distant from her and their daughters since her son’s death.

She thinks that he believes that he was responsible for their son’s death. She knows her husband wasn't responsible at all. Everything that she knows about it indicates to her that their son’s death was an awful unavoidable accident. Her son was walking down the street being typically six, playing with a ball. He chased the ball into the street and was hit by a bus. Her husband walked close to her son but no one could have saved his son. Why can’t he see that? Why can’t he accept that? Why won’t he let her close? Why won’t he grieve with her? Why won’t he let her help?

For six months she has had to grieve alone. She needs her husband to love her and to grieve her and in six months he has grown even more distant. Her eyes fill with tears and they spill over on to the sand. As they do so she looks down at the sand and she notices another set of footprints in the sand.

She wonders whom they belong to and if that person is like her, making footprints in the sand in the cool of the night because something was troubling them. She wonders if they were, what might be troubling that person.

These footsteps belonged to Ken. He has just a little time to walk in the sand but he needs to walk. When Ken needs to think, he thought best when he could walk in the sand in the cool of the night. There was something about the feel of his bare feet and the sand of the beach that helped him focus on whatever was troubling him.

Ken was faced with a decision he never wanted to make ever. He and his wife Dani have been married for less than two years. Nine months earlier his mother had a stroke. It left her on life support until six weeks ago when she passed on in to eternity. Nine months ago he and his wife promised that if anything ever happened to them that they would do whatever was necessary to end life support as soon as possible. This afternoon while driving home from work his wife was hit by a drunk driver. She was only a mile from her home. She was put on life support. Her doctor said that she would need to be on life support the rest of her life. She is only twenty-three.

How could he make such a decision? He loves her so much he cannot think of life without her even if she is on life support. He remembers how strongly she felt about not being on life support. If he leaves her on life support against her wish doesn’t that mean that his love for her isn’t very strong. This is a decision that no young man should have to make especially alone.

His heart is so heavy he cannot look up he can only look down. When he does so he notices another set of footprints in the sand. He wonders whom they belong to and if that person was like him, making footprints in the sand in the cool of the night because something was troubling them. He wondered if they were, what might be troubling that person.