Hold My Hand

There are times in life were our world shifts off its axis and we sorely need someone to be by our side. It happens to all of us. Sometimes we are in a position to ask for help. We call a family member, we reach out to a girlfriend, a neighbor, a coworker. Our support system wraps their arms around us, and when the time comes, we return the favor in kind. It's a lifeline, a safety net, a safe port in a storm. Sometimes we need that, sometimes we are that.

Sometimes life places you in the right place at the right time and you are called upon to be that person for a complete stranger. I know, I know, sometimes we look the other way when we see life being messy for someone else. We offer a silent prayer and figure that is good enough. We may pretend we don't see what's going on. We may think, not my problem, not my responsibility. 

If ever there was a place to witness those in need it is a hospital emergency room. Everyone is in their own bubble of pain and misery. You wait, you wonder, you observe. What's their story? What's their issue? You wait and wait and wait. You see the beginning of, or the middle of the story, but rarely the end. 

What if though, you are nudged by some greater power to connect with one of them? Do you respond to the nudge or dismiss it? Responding involves stepping out of your pain to be open to someone else's. It is responding in kindness with no expectations. It is witnessing someone's obvious distress and stepping outside of anonymity to establish connection. It is saying, I see you are alone would you like to sit with us. It is holding the hand of someone scared not knowing the outcome. But trusting you're offering a life preserver of some sort. Somewhere out there is a woman named Janet whose husband Scott suffered a traumatic injury. In the waiting and wondering in a life-or-death situation two people opened arms to her, becoming a surrogate support system. Two people felt the nudge and responded. They stood in the moment to hold another's hand.

May we all be that person. May we fill that need when it arises. We never know when we will be a Janet in her time of need.