I had a brief encounter at the hospital a couple hours ago that still has my mind rattling, so Im going to begin typing and just dump it all out here. I entered the elevator on floor 3, which is where the NICU is located. There was an older African American man on the elevator. He was well dressed. I took note of his cardigan sweater and his uncanny resemblance to Morgan Freeman. He seemed distracted. I said hello, he said the same, then he looked down and was preoccupied with something else. I could tell he was hurting. You almost become numb to the people who enter and exit the elevator crying. It doesnt happen every day but its a frequent enough occurrence that you expect at least one person to be in tears inside of a full elevator car. Back to the distinguished gentleman.... He continued to stare at the ground, clenching his fists and taking deep breaths. I was just about to say Is everything alright?....when the car stopped on floor one - where the cafeteria is located. When the doors opened, he looked up and began to exit the elevator. He then wiped the tears from his eyes with a paper towel he had in his right hand. I could tell he got the paper towel from the mens room because Ive seen them 1,000 times since August. Ive wiped tears from my face with those same paper towels on more than occasion the past 90 days. My heart sank because I could tell he was fighting back tears of some devastating news he was just given about a loved one. Was it his wife? Son? Daughter? I thought about how he was going to enter the cafeteria and give off an aura of Dont talk to me.... and immediately be judged as guy in a bad mood. This man was hurting on a level that is difficult to understand unless youve walked in his shoes. I wonder how many people we run into on a daily basis who are in a bad mood and we immediately judge them as being toxic? Yet, we dont know the battle theyre facing, or the devastation that could have just entered their life. I know Im guilty of this all the time. If someone doesnt acknowledge my robust Hello! with an equally enthusiastic reply, I think Cheer up, dude. Like I said, Im just typing whats on my mind. Writing is the doing part of thinking and I wanted to capture this before it left my aging mind;) Im not sure why Im so impacted by a guy Ive never met, will never meet and only shared an elevator for less then a minute. One reason could be because I am present for each moment of my life now. I dont take days, hours or even minutes for granted. And I dont take people for granted either. I cant stop thinking of my Morgan Freeman Friend and how he is having a really bad Wednesday. Hes probably still crying into a brown paper towel, feeling lost. Theres thousands of these people in our lives every year who would like nothing more than to know everything will get better. You dont need money, fame or a fancy car to make a difference in their lives. Im pretty sure a hug will do.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 01:53:00 +0000
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