I can’t fix you, but I can help you.

I was sitting in the waiting room at Children’s hospital waiting for my daughter to finish a test.  I had about an hour to notice and observe my surroundings.  Kids of all ages in wheelchairs, leg braces and helmets.  Every parents greatest fear was suddenly everywhere around me.

At one point, I watched as a nurse came out to get a baby.  She strolled these tiny little feet by me as the parents waited in the background.  I could feel the pain of the separation, the anxiety and the unknown.  I wondered what they were there to learn.

As I sat there observing, I was doing okay.  I’ve had my own share of difficult health moments with both my kids, so being in a setting like this can bring up memories and fear, but also intense gratitude.

Just as my time was ending, something amazing happened right next to me.  A doctor came out into the lobby to meet his patient.  I watched as the doctor rolled his own wheelchair right up the little boy, also in a wheelchair.  It was this beautiful moment of two souls seeing each other in a way only they understand.  It was so powerful and beautiful I almost had to look away to avoid the flood of emotion I felt.

To see another person, their pain, their suffering...and to merely say “I see you...me too. I can’t fix you, but I can help you.”

There is so much suffering happening around us and in us.  The amount of change and discomfort is more than anyone is used to.  We are all doing our best, adjusting our sails, hoping to arrive anywhere that might feel somewhat “normal”, even for a moment.

There are no easy answers.  But what I learned this week is that sometimes meeting another human at the same level, eye to eye, seeing their pain, acknowledging their life might just be what’s needed to save them.

As summer comes to and end and the new routines of fall arrive, I hope you never forget the power of human connection.  Lean on your people.  Love your people, let them love you back.  It’s one “normal” thing we can still count on.

TKM~