I sent the following text message to a friend this morning and realized that I wanted to share it with you all. I hope you appreciate the story as much as I did.
I went for a walk this morning, trying to get back into the routine of slow walking in the a.m., and there was a woman in front of me, a bit heavier set, a bit older, exercising but slowly. I slowed down at some point so I didn’t encroach, saw it as an excuse to slow down myself. At some point, she may have slowed down more and I went to overtake her but said hi as I did.
We started to talk, she told me how she’s supposed to walk everyday, asked if I was supposed to, and if I did. We talked about missing a few days here and there. Then she asked where I was from and me her. She’s born in Kenya and her parents and grandparents as well but still had an Indian accent, which I find fascinating because in the US, the kids of immigrants lose the accent almost immediately.
Anyway, she started talking about covid and how it was a scheme by the US, Europe, and China to depopulate Africa so they could get the minerals and how it backfired and so on and so forth. I, feeling the skepticism and annoyance rising in me, just let her continue a bit.
Then I said that what I do for work is help people be more emotionally open, to connect more emotionally, and close off less, and that one of the things that hurt me the most in the pandemic was seeing how so many of us were closing off more and more.
Almost immediately she changed the tone of her story. She told me her husband died on Jan 1 2020 to pneumonia and if he had survived to be around during covid he would have suffered a lot to wear a mask because he had already been using mobile oxygen. So that God was good because He took her husband before he had to suffer thru that. Then she tells me that 6 months later, her mother dies. From one hospital to another, possibly diagnosed with covid but not confirmed, they weren’t allowed to go into the hospital with her, them saying they’ll see her soon and the mom saying she’s not sure she’ll be coming back.
We left the conversation introducing our names, talking about her grandchildren, how grief may fade at times but never fully disappear, and her saying she better see me out walking every morning, as her driver takes her up to the top of the hill at 8:15 M-F.
I walk away and I almost burst into tears while walking down the road. Even now, maybe 40 mins later, I’m still on the brink.
I dunno exactly why I’m sharing this with you. Honestly, after writing it out, I think I might publish it somewhere. I think why specifically to you: partially just to say I do this, I do it with most people, and I often do it without even trying very hard. And I like doing it. This woman has made my morning. Helped me start soft, tender, loving, and overall just grateful for life.