(Image courtesy of Shavu’a Tov!)
Hey all!
I recently received this story from SuperForest Vital, and immediately asked him if I could share it here! He humbly accepted to share it to you all. So here it is:
“today i experienced something wonderful. i was walking over to the social lobby of my hotel when i noticed a disabled lady with a walker. She seemed down so i stopped to talk to her. I asked her how she was and she seemed so contemplative at the question. She informed me that she was not doing well because she had had a bad experience with the police (there happened to be a police conference in the hotel so naturally I wanted to know if she had experienced this bad experience at the hotel, and to offer to do something about it). So she informed me that there is not that much we can do except to listen but at the moment she was sorting through some bad feelings and feelings of betrayal and mistrust of the police. So i told her that i will be close by if she wants an ear to listen.
(Side note, this woman is a very sweet lady who is usually in a wheel chair but wants to show that she is independent so she uses a walker form time to time. She seems to be around 28 or 29, 30 at the most. Completely paralyzed on one side and partially on the other side, so she is hunched on one side. But she moves with such urgency that you cant really tell until she has to perform fine movements like reaching for the O’henry bars that sit in a jar on the front desk, which she loves. Moreover, it takes her about 2 minutes to formulate a short sentence. She is very alert and could probably repeat a whole conversation she had with someone several months before where it not for her speech impediment)
so walked by again and she did not say anything but i noticed that she was almost brought to tears, which is strange for her because she is usually in high spirits as the front desk tells me. so I decided to get her some water, the very least i could do. once i placed the water on an adjacent side table (she was sitting down) she turned to me almost in tears and said i think i am ready to share with you.
so she told me that on one of here walks from the shopping center, near the hotel, she was crossing a street and was almost run over by some teens who were speeding. This was a shopping center street so the speed is reduced but she apparently almost got crushed. As this was not the first time this has happened to her she decided to take this matter to the police. She told me that she was not asking for much, just for someone to listen to her and be understanding. but the receptionist at the municipal building was so uncaring that it brought her so down. When she finally got to talk to an officer he seemed to not be concerned and did not even take a note or write a report about how dangerous this place can be. So this whole ordeal really brought her down. She asked me how people could be so uncaring or choose not to understand. she told me that she was hit once before when she was three and still have memories of this experience so anytime something close to this happens she has some really bad memories. She also asked me why it seems that she must get crushed with her walker before anyone can do anything about it.
It was so sad how much pain she had experienced at the municipal building, and even more sad how much it had brought her down. Finally she said that she called a friend of hers who is a police officer and asked him whether or not the police would finally respond to these issues if she got flattened with her walker.
How sad!!
I shared with her a little and in the ended we talked about how it seems that we need to put people who are more caring in positions of authorithy. She responded that maybe she could do that job. I expressed how much i appreciated that she talked to me and how much i would be sadened if she was flatted by a car. She smiled a big smile and told me that she really was happy that i was able to listen and hear her. I left for the airport with her still beaming.
I am so happy that i had this opportunity. It was so wonderful how she opened to share her experiences with me. I am so amazed at her resiliency.
If you get a chance to hear someone out take it. You might be surprised at what they can share with you, and how much brighter these moments can make your day.
peace,
V”
Truly beautiful, thank you allowing me to share this Vital! You are an inspiration to me, and now SuperForest! Keep doing what you do! A big thank you from all of SuperForest!
Peace, love, life,
Mathew, and Team SuperForest
p.s. SuperForesters! Are you out in the world doing great things and looking out for one another? We want to hear about it! Email SuperForest!
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