answered their questions, while her mother and grandparents drank coffee in the diner. As they were finishing their visit, LeAnne began loading up her supplies into the back of her grandfather’s truck.
LeAnne heard the screeching of tires and when she turned around; she saw that a speeding car was headed right towards the eight brownie scouts. LeAnne acted without thinking. She ran towards the girls, pushed them out of the way. Unfortunately, LeAnne did not get clear of the car, and the car hit her, demolished the lemonade stand, and crashed into the diner, behind it. LeAnne’s mother and grandparents ran out of the diner and saw LeAnne land on the pavement into a motionless pile.
Maggie called her husband and told him to meet them at the hospital. LeAnne was in surgery for over nine hours. Jack comforted Maggie and all of their anger towards each other was forgotten, as they prayed for their daughter.
At four o’clock in the morning, the surgeons met with Jack and Maggie. The doctors told them that they had fixed all of the broken bones, and stopped the internal bleeding. The Neurosurgeon hesitated and then told Jack and Maggie the bad news. LeAnne’s spinal cord had been severed in the accident. She would never walk again.
Jack and Maggie stayed by LeAnne’s side, as they waited for her to wake up, wondering how they would tell her that she would never run or play basketball again. Maggie and Jack were so exhausted, that they fell asleep in the chairs, holding each other’s hands. That is how they still were, when LeAnne woke up. She was looking at them, thinking about the bad dream she had dreamed. She tried to talk, but realized that she had a tube in her throat, helping her to breathe. She realized that it had not been a dream. The crash had been real. She tried to move her arms, and her parents woke up and called for a nurse. A few minutes later, the nurse told LeAnne that she would remove the tube. LeAnne breathed out as hard as she could and the nurse pulled the tube out of her throat.
LeAnne tried to talk, nut the nurse told her not to talk for a while. She handed her a pad of paper and a pen. LeAnne scribbled, “Are the little girls okay?” Her mother told her, that except for some minor scratches and bruises, that all eight girls were fine. LeAnne was relieved when she heard that. Then, suddenly, a look of fear filled LeAnne’s face. She scribbled on the pad again and handed it to her mother.
Maggie read what her daughter had written, and fought back her tears. LeAnne wanted to know why she could not feel her legs. When Maggie told her daughter about her spinal cord injury, LeAnne’s eyes filled with tears. For the first time in eight years, she questioned God’s plans. “Why me?” she silently asked God. “What have I done to deserve this? My life is over.”
The nurse gave LeAnne some medication to help her sleep. When she woke up eight hours later, she saw that the room was filled with cards, balloons, stuffed animals and dozens of flowers. As LeAnne read some of the cards, she realized that they were not just from her family and her classmates. A lot of them were from regular customers of her lemonade stand. As she began to realize how truly blessed she was to have so many friends, she felt bad for questioning God and being angry with him. She prayed to him, asking for his forgiveness.
Over the next few days, LeAnne had hundreds of visitors, including students from the high school, and several of her customers. However, the visitors that touched her the most were the eight brownies and their parents, who thanked her for saving their lives. LeAnne realized that if she had not pushed the girls out of the way, she would not be paralyzed, but those girls might have been killed and their parents would be grieving. She thanked God for sparing their lives.
On Thursday, LeAnne insisted that her parents and grandparents open the lemonade stand on Friday afternoon as usual, and her family agreed to her request. Leanne realized that that she would lose her athletic scholarships, now that she could no longer walk or run. Even though her grades were good, they were not good enough to get full scholarships, and she knew that her parents could not afford to pay her tuition, and other expenses.
On Friday afternoon, the customers of the lemonade stand were asking Jack and Maggie for an update on LeAnne’s condition. Maggie told them that LeAnne’s biggest concern was the loss of her scholarship, and not being able to go to college. One of LeAnne’s regular customers told Maggie that he had some connections and that he would see what he could do.
On Monday morning, The president of UCLA visited LeAnne in the hospital and told her that because of her excellent grades and years of community service, and the recommendation from the Dean of Admissions, who had been a customer of Leon’s Lemonade Stand for several years; she was being awarded a full four year scholarship to cover all of her expenses.
Later that day, LeAnne received even better news. Her parents realized that their daughter was the most important part of their life and their problems were nothing. They told LeAnne that they were getting back together.
That evening, a newspaper reporter interviewed LeAnne for thirty minutes. After asking several questions about the lemonade stand and the Helping Hands Mission, the reporter hesitated, and asked one final question. “Your basketball and Olympics plans have been wiped out by this accident. If it was I, I would be devastated. How can you be so upbeat and cheerful?”
LeAnne smiled and said three words; “faith and lemonade.” When she saw the puzzled look on the reporter’s face, LeAnne explained. “My great-grandfather Leon was a minister, as well as my best friend. He taught me two very important lessons, that I still live by today. First, have faith in God, and in people. Look for the goodness in people and you will find it, and second, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. I may not be able to play basketball, or run, but I can still coach kids and teach them how to play basketball and encourage them to keep trying. I can still be a lawyer in a wheel chair. I have asked myself, ‘If I could go back to the time of the accident, would I do anything differently?’ The answer I came up with is ‘no’. Yes, if I had not pushed those girls out of the way, I would still have use of my legs, but eight little girls might have died. Their lives are worth so much more than the use of my legs.”
After hearing that, the reporter put down her pencil and paper, and with watery eyes, she reached over and gave LeAnne a great big hug.
LeAnne was released from the hospital on a Friday morning. She was looking forward to opening the lemonade stand that afternoon. When her dad helped her out of the cart, and into her wheel chair, she saw a large crowd of people waiting for her. Where the lemonade stand used to be, was something covered by a large tarp. As LeAnne was escorted to the sidewalk, in her wheelchair, she was met by the mayor of Los Angeles. The crown became hushed as the mayor began to speak. “LeAnne, you are an inspiration to the citizens of Los Angeles. We have pushed through legislation, to build a permanent structure for your lemonade stand.” The mayor removed the tarp, to reveal a large metal and glass structure, resembling a bus shelter. Across the top, was a professional sign declaring it “Leon’s Lemonade Stand”. The structure was wheel chair accessible and after LeAnne was behind the low counter, she declared the stand open for business.
It was a record sales day. The stand remained open until after eight o’clock and the stand took in more than four thousand dollars that afternoon. LeAnne could almost see her Grandpa Leon looking down from Heaven with a big smile on her face.
LeAnne graduated from UCLA five years later, and then attended UCLA Law School for four years. At the age of twenty-five, received her law degree, and was hired by the public defender’s office. All through college and Law School, she had kept her lemonade stand open and you will find her there every Friday afternoon. Besides legal work, LeAnne works with troubled kids and works closely with the Helping Hands Mission. To this day, her motto remains; “Faith and Lemonade.”
The End
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