A girl saw a poor boy wandering her street and sheltered him in her house. But he was hungry and disorientated, so he started eating the dog’s food. She stopped him, and they ate real food. But the girl never imagined what would happen years later.
“Come with me,” Samantha told the boy she saw wandering on her street. His cheeks were red, and she saw him with a runny nose. He also had to be around her age – five or six years old. So, the little girl thought the best thing to do was to bring him home, and her mother would know what to do.
The poor boy followed her through the back door, looking around her house shyly. “Mom!” Samantha called out, not knowing where her mother was. “She must be in the shower. What’s your name?”
“Luke,” the boy added weakly. Samantha started to worry even more. Where was his mommy? Or daddy? Is he sick? Is he hungry? Is Mom going to be mad? the little girl wondered as she waited for her mom to come.
Little did she know that Luke would become a fixture in their life.
Samantha was about to go find her when she noticed the boy next to her puppy. At first, she thought he was petting him, but then he heard crunching sounds. To her surprise, the boy had grabbed a few pieces of Kibble and was chewing them.
“Stop! Don’t eat my dog’s food!” she exclaimed, rushing to his side and swatting the Kibble from his hand down.
“But I’m so hungry,” the boy said, ashamed.
Samantha didn’t know what to think. She was too young to understand that boy’s struggles back then, but she could sympathize. “My mom will make us something soon,” she assured him.
Just then, Samantha’s mother, Lane, appeared and was shocked to see the boy in her kitchen. Samantha explained everything and also added that he was hungry.
Lane fixed something for the kids to eat and made even more when Luke devoured everything in a minute.
Afterward, the mother put a movie for the kids to watch while she made some calls. No one in her neighborhood in Virginia had any idea where the boy came from, so she called the non-emergency line. They revealed that the boy had escaped from his foster home, which was a few blocks away.
He had lost his parents in a fire and was first sent to a group home, then placed in a foster home. He had been escaping and wandering around the neighborhood since. Luckily, people always found him and called the police, so the boy returned safely every time, but he kept running off.
Someone would be coming over soon to get Luke back. In the meantime, the kids finished the movie, and Samantha started doing her homework. Lane heard her explain to Luke how she wanted to become a doctor and had to study hard. The older woman smiled, as her daughter had a huge heart, and she saw the little boy taking in every single word Samantha said. It was a beautiful sight.
Little did she know that Luke would become a fixture in their life.
When his foster parents picked him up, Luke promised never to run away again if he could go to the same school as Samantha. The foster parents agreed immediately. They had yet to enroll him because he had lived through something difficult after losing his parents and wanted him to get used to his new environment.
Soon, they enrolled Luke in the local preschool, and he became Samantha’s best friend. He was always over at their house, studied hard, respected his foster parents and every other adult, and he never escaped his home again. He was officially adopted by that foster family two years later.
Twelve years later, Luke and Samantha were 18 and about to graduate. They were both accepted into Harvard, and he finally got the courage to ask her to the prom. He had worked part-time all year, saving money, and showed up in a sleek, white limousine at Samantha’s house.
At the prom, he proposed to her while they slow danced.
“I knew I would marry you that night I left your house after you stopped me from eating dog food,” Luke told her.
“Are you serious? We’re 18!” Samantha laughed, gently hitting his shoulder.
“We don’t have to get married for years. I just want you to know there’s no one else for me. I’ve been in love with you since I was five, so…will you marry me?” he asked quietly so their classmates wouldn’t hear.
Samantha smiled shyly and nodded. They kissed sweetly for the first time. But it wouldn’t be the last. They were together through pre-med, med school, residency, and fellowships. They created their own practice and got married.
Afterward, they had two boys and adopted three daughters. And they helped as many orphaned children as they could by giving to charity, volunteering, and offering their medical services for free. It was like their love was written in the stars…or maybe in a medical book.
