G8+Group+5

The Meeting That Changed a Life By John Scott, Sydney Rubin and Jason Franklin Dustin Stewart woke up on a sunny December morning to the sweet smell of coffee brewing in the kitchen. Before bed last night, Dustin set a timer for his coffee in the morning, and he knew it was worth it. Very tired from his sleepless night, Dustin got up to pour his coffee when he saw what a beautiful day it was outside. Living right on the beach was a plus to the drowsy life that Dustin lived. He woke up every morning to no one, not even a pet. Coffee was the only thing for Dustin; he lived off of it. Once Dustin saw how wonderful it was outside, he went into his room to get some running clothes on. He had decided to take a run on the beach; this way he could start the day energized. Once he finished reading the sports section of the paper and drank a cup of coffee, he left for his run. During his run, Dustin received a call. Who would be calling him at 7 o’clock? It is far too early. Dustin decided to answer the phone. It was Peter Laviolette, Carolina Hurricanes’ hockey team’s head coach, on the other line. Dustin knew this would not go well, so he decided to end his run at this point. Since he usually drank 2-3 cups of coffee in the morning, he decided to walk over to Starbucks to get his second cup. It was about a five minute walk to Starbucks, so Dustin walked through town. Anyways, he was in no hurry, and no one was waiting for him. While Peter Laviolette babbled on about the game last night, Dustin looked in the store windows, realizing that he was lacking winter clothes. Living at the beach, he didn’t usually need winter clothes, but he always liked to have them, just in case. He figured that he could come back later. Right now, he just wanted his coffee. Finally he was seconds away from a Mocha Cappuccino. As he walked in the door, he is still on the phone with Peter. “Peter, you need to whip Staal into shape. The Carolina Hurricanes will not have a team without their star player.” Dustin Stewart walked into Starbucks while he vigorously talked to Peter on the phone. Peter replied to Dustin commanding, “I know that you are the CEO of the NHL, but I will handle my team. Let me be and you can judge me after the first game.” Dustin was in such a state of anger that he hangs up and spills his freshly brewed coffee all over himself. Dustin thought to himself, “This is just my day; I am 30 minutes from home with dirty clothes, and a meeting in 45 minutes.” Once Dustin processed how bad of a dilemma he was in, he runs into the street, splashing the last sips of coffee on the people outside. Through all of the screaming and yelling, Dustin is dodging car after car, when finally the light turns red and he is safe. Just when he’s almost on the sidewalk, a car runs a red light…right beside Dustin. He lay unconscious, finally waking up from a long, deep sleep. When he awoke he sees his left leg in a cast dangling above his head and a nurse staring at him intensely. The nurse says sweetly, “Rise and shine, sleepy head.” Dustin says, “Where am I? How come my leg is in a cast? Who are you?” “My name is Joyce, and I am your nurse. You took a tough hit from a car and your leg is in a cast because your leg got hurt badly.” “How long was I out?” Dustin asked sleepily. “Thirty-six hours. You must have been really worn out.” “Yeah…” Joyce asked Dustin very cautiously, “Do you think anyone will visit you?” Curtly, Dustin replied with a, “No.” “Why not?” Joyce asked sweetly. “Because I never talk to my family, and when I do, I am awfully mean to them.” Dustin starts crying, “I don’t try to be mean to them, but they just make me so mad.” “Well, how do they make you mad?” “Well before I was a CEO of the NHL, my family and I were pretty close, but after that we diverged and weren’t the same family anymore.” Dustin cried, not knowing what to say. Joyce said, “Yeah, my husband’s family had the same problem. I have to go see my next patient. It has been nice talking to you. See you later!” The nurse left the room and a doctor came in five minutes later. Right then, Dustin saw a family walk into the room next door. He felt his stomach churn, he now suddenly wished that a family would come and support him during his hard times at the hospital. He wanted his family that he never had, he wanted to take back all of the hard times he had with his family. He wanted to take back and re do his mistakes in life. After the doctor gave Dustin his exam, Joyce walked in with two cups of coffee and she said, “You do like coffee? Don’t you?” Dustin smiles, “I like coffee a lot! “That’s good. The only bad news is that you can only have one cup a day.” Dustin’s jaw drops… Joyce sighs, “Doctors orders. Sorry.” “Oh, this must be the worst week of my life, even worse than when I lost my most prized possession.” “What was your prized possession?” Joyce replied very curiously. “My…” “Your what?” “My family…” Dustin blurts out, bursting into tears. “Wow!” Joyce says shocked. “Why did that happened?” Barely able to talk, Dustin cried, “I’m not sure. I guess I was just thinking of myself and not them. I left my ex-wife, son and daughter without anything but a roof over their heads. I divorced my wife 15 years ago and my children were so upset that they never spoke to me again. My kids were around 13 and 3. I haven’t seen them in so long I don’t even remember their birthdays. The divorce just added fuel to the fire and our family fell apart at this time. I never got to see them grow up and I missed 15 years of their lives. I would do anything to see them again but we diverged so much, that I don’t think our paths will ever meet again.” “Oh, I am so sorry.” “It makes me miserable to see other families visit their relatives in the hospital, this is because I never had a family like that. I had all the chances in the world to make a wonderful family, but I didn’t use my opportunities and my family fell apart. I would do anything to see my family again and spend time with them like other families do.” “Well I am very sorry this happened to you.” “Yes, um, is it time for lunch yet?” Dustin replied, trying to get off of the subject. “Why, yes, it is. I forgot. I’ll send it up as soon as I can, ok?” “Thank you,” Dustin said sincerely. It was December 25th, Christmas morning, and “Silent Night” was playing. Dustin was finally getting able to walk on his leg again without a shot of pain. Although his leg was still in a cast, Dustin was feeling as good as new. He walked down the hall to the cafeteria, where he found the employees trying to set up a stage for the people who wanted to celebrate Christmas and go to church. Dustin walked to the coffee pot and fixed himself a cup of coffee. He used the same coffee cup for the last three days and hadn’t washed it since. It was stained with brown at the bottom, and was decorated with the Carolina Hurricanes logo around it. He settled himself in a plastic chair, and started to ponder what his family was doing at this moment. He was only with his family for one Christmas, and that was when his son, Jack, and his daughter, Kelly, were 13 and 3. They had a big breakfast with coffee, orange juice, hash browns, bacon, eggs, and pancakes. When they were finished with breakfast they decided they were going to have a new tradition. They would watch “Christmas Story” every year, and would then have hot chocolate, and roast marshmallows after. Although New Year’s day, Dustin was called on his cell phone at one of his neighbors’ parties and was asked to come out of retirement and be the CEO of the NHL. Of course, he took the job, which meant that their Christmas tradition never really took off. His mind returned from his depressing daydream, and he started to watch the TV in the kitchen that was on a counter. The channel was on ESPN, and Sport Center’s theme song was playing. Dustin watched this show for about a half an hour and decided to head back to his room. When he came back, his bed was made, and a Christmas card was on his pillow. It wasn’t much- the envelope contained 20 dollars, and a Christmas jingle that played when you opened the card. It was sad in a way, that this was what his Christmas has come to. Before, Christmas was packed with work, and stress; now he was just lonely. He watched families come in and out of rooms from visiting their sick family members and friends. The nurse was talking to what seemed to be her family, and was laughing at some joke her husband told her. For some reason, this family reminded him of his own family. The wife seemed to have the same deep look as his old wife, but the son and daughter had no resemblance to Jack and Kelly. He went to the bathroom, and when he came back Joyce was now in his room waiting for him to return. Right when he closed the door to the bathroom she said, “I have a surprise for you.” “Yes? What is it?” in a calm voice asked Dustin. “My name is Joyce Stewart.” “Yes, I knew that Joyce, and there are plenty of people with the last name of Stewart, Joyce,” said Dustin in an annoyed way. “Well, what if my name is Mrs. Jack Stewart?” said Joyce. Dustin was simply shocked. Could this really be his son’s wife? Too much was happening at one time, that he could not process the facts. After a couple of minutes of silence, Joyce left the room and Dustin lay on his bed, face covered in the pillow. A few minutes later a family walked in- the same family Joyce was talking to before. The girl, who looked around 18, asked, “Is this the room of Dustin Stewart?” Dustin looked up and answered in a soft voice, “Yes, yes it is.” The young man who was about 28 came over and gave Dustin a hug that sent chills up his spine, and at that moment all of his questions were answered. Dustin and this family spent the rest of the day watching “Christmas Story, roasting marshmallows, and drinking hot chocolate.