What if you knew you were talking to someone for the last time…if that person would never speak to another human being?
My friend recently had that experience, though she didn’t realize it till later. When the Angels’ Landing trail at Zion National Park got too steep and high for her taste, she told her group to go to the top without her. She headed down a ways to the trailside restrooms, where she stopped to enjoy the blue sky; huge, pink and orange rocks; and trees fresh with new leaves.
A woman was sitting there alone, and my friend approached. May as well make conversation.
The lady, who was in her early 60s, had traveled to the park alone from California. She didn’t seem eager to chat with my friend and before long, she excused herself to use the restroom.
My friend’s group rejoined her soon, and they headed down. Near the bottom, park rangers had closed a section of the path.
“Did any of you see a woman in her 60s up there on the trail?” a ranger asked. When my friend said she had, she heard words she’ll probably never forget.
“We found the body of a woman who meets that description over there,” the ranger said, indicating the closed-off section. “She fell 1,000 feet.”
This woman had clearly made up her mind to end her life at Zion National Park. She’s among quite a few others who have done the same—enjoy a beautiful place before taking their last breath. And even if my friend had known the woman’s plans, she couldn’t have said anything to change this woman’s mind.
It’s heartbreaking and horrifying—and it makes me want to have conversations with strangers in my path, offer an encouraging word, and focus more on others than on my own circumstances and agenda.
