Spilled Tears For A Stranger

There was a little boy who was part of our pack at Cub Scouts.  He's probably around 6 or 7 years old.  I didn't know him but I had heard plenty about him (and his Mom) from others.  Apparently he suffers from a lot of behavioral problems which require him to attend special needs classes at school and take medication on a regular basis.  He's had outbursts in school before and - while this is only speculation on my part based upon what others have said - he was labeled as a "bad" child.  It seems to me that he was often talked about in a negative manner, due to his behavioral issues.
I know when his Mom first signed him up for Cub Scouts there were some concerns about having him at the meetings.  Even though his Mom would be required to stay with him, some people thought he would be too disruptive.  In the end, he did join in with a Den.
I would pass him & his Mom from time to time in the hallway of where all of the meetings are held, but they were pretty much strangers to me.  A couple of weeks ago I ran into his Mom at the store where we briefly chatted for a couple of minutes.  She told me she was happy that her son had been moved into different classes at school & thought that he was doing better.
I'd heard from others that she was a single Mom and a bit of a strange person, for lack of a better word.  I think maybe she was a bit too blunt for most people and because of that she too was often talked about in a poor manner.
Unfortunately, a lot of people in our community (in my opinion) tend to judge others based on their appearance and this has also contributed to people speaking poorly about the Mom.  She was missing teeth and had a sort of "weathered" look to her.  She dressed in baggy (comfortable) clothing.  She was probably in her mid 40's.  She was infact the topic of gossip amongst others and I don't think it's a stretch to say that both her and her son were victims of discrimination.
To me, the words discrimination and prejudice go hand in hand.  I despise them both.  I have no tolerance for either of them.  If anything, my heart hurts for those who have been deemed an "outcast" based soley upon their appearance and/or lifestyle.  Every individual person has their own story and just as no two fingerprints are alike, no two stories will ever be 100% alike either.
It may be true that I didn't know this Mother & Son but last night my heart broke for them both.  Last night I got very little sleep.  I tossed and turned.  I Spilled Tears For A Stranger.
A friend of mine told me that the boy's Mother had died the day before.  She didn't have many details, other than she thought maybe a heartattack was to blame.  The Mother had been throwing up for a while & the son heard her fall.  She wasn't discovered by an adult until the next day.
As usual, I'm finding it incredibly difficult to wrap my mind around why her life ended so abruptly, with no notice.  Her little boy is an orphan now.  It doesn't matter to me what he looks like or how he behaves.  He is a young boy and he doesn't have a mother anymore.  I can't stop thinking about him, or what may happen to him now that his mother has passed away.  Who will care for him?  Will he be treated with love, kindness and patience as all children should be treated with, despite his behavioral problems?  And I can't stop thinking about the Mother either for just as her son is without her now, she is without her son.  I can't imagine ever being separated from my children.  To be separated from them on a permanent basis would be torturous.  All I can do is hope for the best for that little boy, and for his Mother, too.  Sometimes life doesn't make any sense at all, that's for sure!