Homeless Boy Asked The Biker To Take Him To See The Ocean Before He Died From Cancer

He smiled. The first real smile I’d seen from him. “I know. I still can’t believe it’s real.”

We arrived at the beach at 3 PM. I parked the truck we’d rented (couldn’t exactly take Lucas on my motorcycle with the chaperone) and helped Lucas out.

He stood at the edge of the parking lot, staring.

The ocean stretched out before us. Endless blue meeting endless sky. Waves rolling in, foaming white against the sand. The sound of them crashing. The smell of salt.

Lucas started crying.

Not sad tears. Something deeper. Something more.

“It’s real,” he whispered. “It’s actually real. My mom wasn’t making it up. It really does go on forever.”

I picked him up and carried him to the water’s edge. He was so light. Probably weighed forty pounds soaking wet. Eight years old and carrying the weight of a terminal diagnosis.

When his feet touched the water, he gasped. “It’s cold!”

“Yeah, buddy. Ocean water is cold.”

“I love it.” He was laughing now. Laughing and crying at the same time. “I love it so much.”

We spent three hours on that beach. I helped Lucas build a sandcastle. We collected shells. We watched the waves. We found a hermit crab that made Lucas squeal with delight.

Margaret, the CPS chaperone, was crying. “I’ve been doing this job for fifteen years,” she told me quietly. “I’ve seen a lot of bad situations. A lot of kids who fall through the cracks. But I’ve never seen anyone fight this hard for a child they just met.”

“He deserved to see the ocean,” I said. “Every kid deserves to see the ocean.”

At sunset, Lucas asked me to sit with him in the sand. He leaned against my chest, exhausted but happy. The sky was turning orange and pink and purple.

“Mr. Tom?”

“Yeah, buddy?”

“Why did you help me? You don’t know me. I’m just some sick kid.”

I wrapped my arms around him gently, careful of his fragile body. “Because you asked. Because you were brave enough to make that sign and ask strangers for help. Most people wouldn’t do that. Most people would just give up.”

“I almost did give up,” Lucas admitted. “I made that sign because I thought nobody would stop. I thought I’d just sit there until my foster mom remembered me. But then you stopped.”

“I’ll always stop for a kid who needs help.”Continue reading…