A stranger once shared food with me and talked me down from fear when a snow squall stranded us at the peak of a hike. I think often about this person’s willingness to help and how it completely transformed that experience.

  • BuddhaBeettle@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    My grandma took care of me from the moment I was two months old till I was old enough to travel on my own and cook my own food, and even after that we would continue meeting for lunch every week. My mom and dad were present in my life and loving parents but divorced when I was really young and both had to work and travel a lot, through it all, I’d always had her.
    At the time of the story, my dear grandma was slowly dying in her struggle with depression. In-patient treatment had done little to nothing, she was on several psychiatric medications, no dice.

    In the middle of this I had an interview scheduled for an internship in a field I really cared about and for the life of me, I couldn’t find the room the interview was being held at in that laberynth of a faculty building. I would go to where the receptionist told me and find nothing, Id ask teachers and no one knew the place I was headed to. Id open random doors and got into offices where people would rush me out. The clock was ticking and I felt incredibly stupid at not being able to find the stupid room. The building wasn’t even that large.

    And all of a sudden it was too much and I just… broke down sobbing and couldnt stop, everything was too much. Must have been ugly crying for half an hour straight. My eyes were so puffy I could barely even see anymore.
    What I wont forget about that time is how many of the 17 - 18 year-old students approached me that day: offered me water, or to show me the bathroom, asked if I needed a phone to call anyone. One girl even hugged me while I continued crying my hear out and helped me email the person I was supposed to meet that day to tell them I had a personal emergency, while she heard out everything that was going on with me and try her best to assure me everything would turn out fine.
    On my way home, people on the public transport would offer me seats, or ask if I was alright.

    Sounds like small things, but in the world we live in sometimes its easy to believe nobody gives a shit anymore.