A Glimmer of Light During an Emotional Year
It's been a very hard and emotional year for me. My mum had been ill for 6 years and over that time she and I went to countless appointments, treatments, and surgeries. She battled through them all with so much grace and seemed to beat each new cancer that popped up. But this year was different. Things changed dramatically and she lost her battle after 4 very intense and grueling months.
During the time she was in hospital, and we were caring for her at home, my poor old car developed problems too. I pushed it for months, ignoring the warning lights that had become a permanent fixture on my dash. I didn't have time to be off the road.
More...
Long story short, a new light appeared. This one was the engine light. I was no longer needing my car the way I had so I decided I couldn't ignore that one and called my mechanic about it.
He asked me to bring the car in the next morning so he could hook it up to the computer and find out what the problem was. When I arrived, he saw me from the office as I was parking and immediately stopped what he was doing and came out. I'd expected to wait inside while he finished what he was doing but he recognized my car and came to me.
I asked him how he was as I'd not seen him in 6 months or more. He told me how busy it was. But when he asked me, I immediately started to well up. He looked at me and I told him it had been a traumatic year. He told me about losing his grandparents so I shared as well.
He gave me the not so great diagnosis of my car, told me to keep an eye on it, rubbed my arm and gave me a hug. His small act of kindness was giving me his attention, something he probably thought nothing of, but to me, it was huge. His genuine care and concern gave me a glimmer or light during a time when life was feeling so dark. - Anon