Life has a way of changing direction without warning.
One moment everything feels normal. The next moment your emotions are stretched thin, your patience runs low, and even the smallest situations feel heavy. During those times it becomes easy to pull away from the people closest to us. We become quieter, shorter, and more guarded. Not because we want to, but because stress has a way of shrinking our emotional space.
This story is a reminder of something simple but powerful.
When life feels unstable, the most important thing we can do is stick together.
It was my daughter’s sixth birthday.
I had one job that morning. Pick up her birthday cake.
Around ten o’clock on a beautiful Indiana day I pulled into a Kroger parking lot. I walked inside went to the bakery counter and gave the name on the order.
Yes I am here to pick up a cake for Glenn.
The employee smiled and said oh yes the Disney characters it turned out really cute.
She was right. The cake looked great.
Three Disney princesses stood on top positioned close together in a small circle. My daughter had chosen the theme herself and I knew she was going to love it.
Everything felt calm. Normal. Easy.
There were no signs that anything was about to go wrong.
About fifteen feet into the parking lot the day flipped upside down.
I noticed store employees running and yelling. A car was driving wildly through the lot. Someone had stolen items from the store and was trying to escape.
The driver swerved between parked cars and people walking by missing them by inches. Tires screeched. Smoke rose from the pavement.
Before I could even react the car was suddenly coming straight at me.
I stood there holding my daughter’s birthday cake unsure whether to move right or left because the car kept jerking in every direction.
Someone yelled oh no she is going to hit that man.
The driver hit the gas.
In a split second the car missed me by about an inch.
The force knocked me backward. The cake flew out of my hands and landed upside down on the pavement.
I picked myself up in shock watching the car disappear down the lot.
Then something strange happened.
People rushed over but no one asked if I was okay.
Instead they asked about the cake.
Is your cake okay.
How is the cake.
I could not help but laugh at the misplaced concern.
As a dad picking up his daughter’s birthday cake my attention shifted to the cake too. I was shaken but fine.
As I walked closer one woman knelt down and said wait do not pick it up yet come look at this.
The Disney characters had stayed together.
Because they were positioned tightly they created a tripod effect that held the cake up off the ground. The cake was not ruined at all.
Someone finally said wow see what happens when you stick together good things happen.
I was not expecting a life lesson in a grocery store parking lot but it stuck with me.
When life throws something unexpected your way emotions rise fast. Fear frustration and uncertainty take over. In those moments it is easy to isolate yourself. To shut people out. To pull away from the very ones who help steady you.
But that moment with the cake was a reminder.
Stay close.
Stick together with the people who support you and with those who draw strength from you.
Doing so does not remove the challenge but it helps prevent greater damage. It keeps you grounded when everything feels unstable.
When life turns upside down sometimes the strongest thing you can do is stay connected.
