Can you share a positive example of where you’ve felt loved?
I consider myself lucky, I have felt loved by so many people and during all periods of my life. Here goes a nod to all my friends and my family. But the truth is, love can be found in the most unexpected places. As a matter of fact, it doesn’t need to be dramatic or exaggerated. It is really comforting when out of nowhere a stranger shows you empathy. It reminds me that humanity isn’t lost. This happened for me one day in a humble show of kindness during a rideshare trip.
My partner and I were on vacation once in a remote place. We needed to take an airplane back to the big city. The airport was teeny tiny, as were the airplanes that landed there. There was only one flight per day. Being afraid of loosing that one flight, we asked a rideshare driver very early. Surprisingly, an old lady came to pick us up. She was very nice and started talking with us. She asked where we were from and we told her. We talked a little about politics and current affairs. It was clear that we agreed on most things. Then we started talking about our personal lives.
As it turned out, we had passed through similar experiences. We all had moved to different places that same year. We missed our family dearly, she missed it too, specially her daughter. Then, the conversation turned about our expectations, the hope of a better life, the promise of a brighter future. At the end of the ride, after she parked, she turned to us and held our hands. She looked at us straight in the eyes and gave us the most heartfelt goodbye. We simply were strangers, but at the same time we were fellow humans. What made us equals transpired at that very moment.
This happened in September 2019. It was just a random act of kindness in a rideshare trip. Little we knew, our lives would be transformed forever the next year. The COVID pandemic was at our doorstep, and we were not aware of it. Eventually, we all have lost someone or something to it. Yet, as a society we have passed through it and, I want to believe, also came out stronger. I wonder where that pleasant lady is now. I just hope that she is safe and surrounded by her loved ones. Like we are.