Sometimes people just need to be heard

Sometimes people just need to be heard

A woman pulled into my driveway yesterday, looking for directions. She left about a half hour later. Sometimes, people just need to be heard.

I heard a horn delicately go “beep-beep” yesterday and I opened the front door of my house to find a van parked at the end of the driveway. A woman called out the vehicle window, looking for directions to a specific road. I ran down, asked for the name of the road again and ran back in to do a quick search on the computer. When I came back out give her the directions, before I spoke a word, she started to talk.

She told me she was a temporary visitor to the area. And then she told me about the death of both of her husbands to cancer, and the behavior of her step children, and what life had been like recently. She talked about her pets, and her weight loss and her plans for the future. If everything she shared was true, she’s had some tough times recently and she just seemed to want to share. I listened, asked a few questions, and basically just gave her some time. Nothing else. She had to leave because there was a fuel technician in our driveway who was finished with his task, but otherwise she might be there still.

So we said goodbye, I gave her directions, we wished each other well, and off she went. I don’t know why she picked my driveway to pull into, or why she thought she could talk to me. But luckily I was in the state of mind to pay attention and luckily I had some time to give. She needed to talk. And to be heard.

I got a lot out of our short time together. I realized once again that we are all connected to one another in some way. In the grand scheme of things, all it takes to be linked is to be open to the connections that are around us. Maybe she and I had totally different views on religion or politics. We didn’t talk about those topics. But we had a moment of connection at the end of a driveway in the middle of a work day. I’m glad she pulled into my driveway. And I wish her well wherever her life might take her.