While out shopping tonight, I met a woman who had just lost her mother-in-law and was preparing for the funeral next week. I didn’t ask for her name. We simply talked for a few minutes, I hugged her, and then we went our separate ways. That was it.
Her story stayed with me. I tried to hold it together, but I felt her pain so deeply. The moment I reached the parking lot, all my emotions came flooding out. I bawled for a stranger. My husband held me and prayed with me. I love that he does that.
My heart aches for what this woman is going through. She carried so much emotion, yet also a deep sense of numbness. The place where grief hits, but you feel almost frozen, going through the motions of life while your heart is elsewhere. I’ve been there, and it’s a tough, lonely space.
Tonight was just another reminder that we truly have no idea what battles others are facing. We can’t see the weight they carry behind a polite smile or a quiet nod. It reminded me again of something so simple, yet so profound: Be kind. Always. Because everyone you meet is fighting a battle you may never know about.
Even small gestures listening, a hug, a kind word, can matter more than we’ll ever realize.
Originally posted July 26, 2015
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