David McElroy

When the YouTube video started playing at the next table, I didn’t pay much attention. But then I glimpsed the face of the singer.

“She looks just like Bailey Ingle,” I thought.

And then I realized that the young country singer in the video was exactly who I thought. Bailey Ingle had just grown up a bit.

It was almost five years ago when I went to Bailey’s suburban Birmingham home to take photos of her for a community magazine. It was just another freelance photo shoot for me, but this impressive 16-year-old made a strongly positive impression.

When I met her for the photoshoot, she was just a talented young girl with big dreams. She sang at some local venues. Her big claim to fame was winning a radio station’s contest for a chance to sing a duet with country star Keith Urban at a local concert.

But this young woman had talent and dreams — and she’s come quite a way since the day I met her.

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They were just another random family having dinner together at a fast food restaurant. But I couldn’t stop listening to their interaction with each other — and feeling envious.

I don’t know these people. I’ll probably never see them again. They have no idea anybody was paying attention to them. But there were some things about them that made me want to be like them.

There were two little girls and a boy, along with their parents. Everybody got along and seemed completely relaxed with one another. The children were well-behaved for their age, but they weren’t perfect. The parents gently corrected when they got a bit out of line, but they were relaxed about it.

The parents seemed as though they liked each other. They were trying to figure something out about an online order that they were about to pick up, so they were collaborating in the midst of dealing with the kids. Nobody was snapping or being short. They were polite and helpful to each other.

It sounds completely unremarkable, but what I saw was completely different from what I typically see and hear.

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In 2008, I had decided to marry a woman — and we had set a date — but I needed to break the news to another woman who had been hoping I would come back to her.

I knew what I wanted, but when I met with the second woman, something went wrong. She begged me to change my mind and I felt guilty because I couldn’t give her what she wanted. I made the worst possible decision for everybody, all because I tried to sit on the fence and avoid hurting anyone.

I got lost that weekend and I feel as though I’ve never found my way home.

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