The Story of Little Rae

I was riding my bike through Zion National Park when I saw a cargo e-bike lying on its side in a 3 foot deep ditch on the side of the road. As I rolled closer to what I presumed was an accident, I saw a young woman holding a young girl approximately 5 years old who was softly crying. As I stopped my bike, I introduced myself to the young woman. I told her that I was a volunteer Bike Ambassador and that I had first aid if it was needed. I noticed that the little girl was so dusty that it was difficult to see if she had any cuts or scrapes. I took some water and wetted a paper towel so that mom could clean off the dust.

I then turned to help the young man pull his e-bike out of the ditch. As we pushed and pulled his bike up the incline, I asked him what happened. He said that he and his daughter, who was on the back of the bike, “took a little tumble”.

After Mom wiped the dust off the little girl, I noticed that her somewhat quiet crying changed to a slow rhythmic whimper….sniff sniff mmmm, sniff sniff mmmm, sniff sniff mmmm. With the dust now gone, I noticed a scrape on the girl's arm, leg and a cut on her finger. I gave Mom some antibiotic ointment to put on the wounds. As I opened the bandage package, I asked the little girl her name. She responded, but my hearing is poor enough that I did not hear what she said. As I opened the coban and handed it to Mom to wrap the bandages, I asked Mom what her daughter's name was. Mom asked her daughter to tell me her name. The little girl said something and Mom laughed. I asked Mom what the little girl said because once again I didn’t hear her. Mom said that the little girl said “I already told him.” I laughed and asked Mom what her daughter's name was. She said it was Rae.

As I packed up, the family got ready to leave. It soon became very clear that Rae was still somewhat scared to get back on the bike. In fact, Rae was not about to get on the back of Dad’s bike nor Mom’s bike. After hearing what was going on, I recommended that they all walk about 100 yards down to a path where they can play by the river.

Later that day, I rode into the park again. As I turned onto the bike path, there were Mom, Dad and Rae on the back of Mom’s bike. As I said hi to everyone, I noticed Rae staring at me. Mom leaned over to quietly thank me; she said that it turned into a very nice day, that they all played in the water. I said, “and obviously, Rae has gotten over her fear of the bike”. Mom thanked me again and I said goodbye to Rae. As I walked away, I looked back twice and Rae was still staring at me with this deep, piercing, quizzical look. As I rode away, I couldn’t help thinking about Rae’s deep, quizzical look. It was a look that could have been asking “are you my guardian angel?” If that truly was her question, I hope that I would have responded with “No, I am probably not your guardian angel. It is probably more like your Guardian angel somehow arranged for you to be riding along ¼ mile in front of me. Or, somehow arranged for me to be riding ¼ mile in back of you. Actually Rae, I don’t know or understand how any of this works, I’m just grateful to be a part of it.”