True story.

I went to my cousin's wedding in Seattle w/e before last (beautiful ceremony and a great time btw) and I had a long stopover in Denver on the way there. While waiting for my plane I noticed an old wheelchair bound woman with a fat little poodle and he noticed me too and seemed very interested in checking me out.  I love dogs, so I went over and kneeled down to him and started to get aquainted. We were getting along just fine and then I began to ask the woman about him, and she was already smiling at the fact that I was paying so much attention to her pup. 

I asked her the usual questions, how old was he and had she had him long etc.  She was so outgoing and seemed very happy to engage in conversation.  Then I started asking about herself.  I asked where she was coming from and she said New Orleans.  Naturally, my jaw about hit the floor because the whole incident was just a few days old  and quite obviously this was a completely unplanned trip for her. She told me a harrowing account of her previous 5 days of experience there (which I'll tell at a later time if you guys want to hear it), and it shook me to the core.  All the while she seemed upbeat though because she was going to live with her son in Seattle, who also was coincidentally named Marc.  

Her sad, sad story aside though...the one comment she made to me that completely took me aback, with no prompting from me at all, was "my city failed me."  

I think that about summed it up for both of us.