The following story by Autumn Barners and Laura Kwerel is an excerpt from NPR's "My Unsung Hero" series, and the Hidden Brain team. It features stories of people whose kindness left a lasting impression on someone else.
"It was just a really rough time. My mom was very fragile [and] needed a lot of attention,
a lot of support," Lorrie Paul said.
When dividing her attention between taking care of her mom and talking to the doctors became
too overwhelming, Paul decided to take a walk through the hospital. After wandering for a
bit, she stopped at a windowsill to look out
“[I] just stared out at nothing. And I started to sob. It got to be too much, and I just
thought, 'I'm gonna lose my dad.'"
As she cried, Paul felt a reassuring hand on her left shoulder. She instantly felt at peace.
Rather than turn around, Paul allowed the stranger's hand to provide a moment of comfort.
"Having someone there and showing that compassion — that love — brought me this sense of
calm," Paul said.
"They didn't try to fix the situation. They didn't try to console me. They didn't try to find
out what was going on. It was just presence."
Her sobs subsided, and she felt her body relax. Then the stranger squeezed her shoulder and
simply walked away.
Paul doesn't know who the person was. But nearly 30 years later, she says she still thinks about
that person often.
"It was so incredibly powerful," Paul said.
"This compassion they shared with me, this sense of humanity — that they were sharing my
sorrow — brought me such a sense of peace that I was able to go back in … and help Mom and be
there for Dad, and get through.”
Caregivers offer the gift of compassion in the most intimate sacred moments of accompaniment. These tender moments often go unwitnessed and untold but always remembered by those who expereinced the kind gesture. This is the healing power of human connection, where both the giver and the receiver are mutually touched by the experience. The sharing of caregiver stories higlights our humanity and reminds us of our true nature and purpose; to love one another.
Note: the following link: https://hiddenbrain.org/myunsunghero/ is where you can access to NPRs My Unsung Hero Site and listen to their podcasts.
Shared by Liz Sorensen Wessel
Artwork by Liz
Journal of Sacred Work 
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