This Too Shall Pass

It was almost 3 1/2 years ago. I was working in Short Stay Surgery at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake at the time. I hated that position. I've never felt so much like a ghost surrounded by people. I had been there about two months and the cliques weren't going to forgive for me for intruding. I was going through a particularly difficult time outside of work anyway, I was dealing with a lot of self harm and trying to get into a kind of therapy that was supposed to help with that. It wasn't a good time to be shunned and ignored by my coworkers as well.

One particularly bad day I was wandering around the cafeteria at lunch time trying to decide if I was going to eat anything. I was standing in line at the grill when one of the cafeteria workers, who'd I'd not seen before, came up to me and put his arm around me, and said whatever I was going through would pass. I was stunned. He said other things too, but all I could hear him say was how this would pass. After a minute or two he smiled and left. I think I might have smiled too. I got my lunch and went about my day, still shocked and thinking at what had happened in those few moments.

A couple days later I saw him in the cafeteria again. He smiled and asked how I was doing. I couldn't even help it I gave help it I gave him a great big hug right there and told him thank you and how much he'd helped me those few days ago. He was beaming.

Sometimes I think he was an angel. Somehow, in the midst of all those people, he saw me. He heard and he felt my heart. He was the only one. And he answered the call. That was one of the most precious moments of my life. You never know when someone is going to need you to hear them. I hope more than anything that this good man will always know the good his actions caused. And I hope I can always be open to others and replicate his love. You just never know the ripples your small act of kindness will bring.

To The Man Who Said Everything Would Be Okay:

You saw me when I was sure no one could.
You saw more than just another person in the crowd.
I wonder now what I looked like.
I know I was staring long into nothing.
Was my brow furrowed?
I know my eyes were sad.
And you.
You saw them.
No one has ever seen my eyes
And known they were sad.
You did.
And you came up to me
And said everything
Would be okay.
That whatever was happening in life
Would pass.
You smiled
Touched my arm and walked away.
And I returned back to the day.
Changed.
And somehow okay.
Because your heart heard my heart.
Thank you.

11/6/11