Cynical on the surface

Sometimes I'm jaded. (Jaded, adjective, made dull, apathetic or cynical by experience.) But then other times I meet people and I'm just amazed by human tenacity.

I recently told the story of a young woman who lost her infant daughter in December. (Death leads to March for Babies, East Oregonian, April 3, 2009).

Our office manager came in and told me a lady was here and wanted to talk about the March of Dimes fundraiser. My initial thought was I had just written up a brief about the fundraising walks planned for Pendleton and Hermiston, but I grabbed my pad and a pen and headed into the lobby area.

"I lost my infant daughter and to avenge her death, I want to do something for the March of Dimes," 25-year-old Becky Macki said to me before she even told me her name.

Stories like this typically don't just fall in your lap. I truly believe fundraising for various organizations is important, but to put a face to the cause is incredibly powerful.

As I talked to Becky, who lives with her sister, Debbie Knarr, I found out they lost their father in 2001 and their mother in 2007.

"We're just two little orphan adults," Debbie said.

As I talked with them I felt somewhat like a voyeur - asking deep, personal and penetrating questions ... stuff normal people don't ask others the first time they meet them. I apologized for being intrusive.

I guess I'm not so jaded.