I Helped Someone

This was a really strange weekend. And I am still a bit shaky.

A friend has been suffering. And on Friday, something happened, something scary. It was a cry. A loud one. In my mind, unmistakable.

And so. I showed up. A few of us did. At her home. In the morning. In my pajamas and glasses. And she cried when she saw me. And hugged me hard.

I'm going to help you, I said. We all are.

There was so resistance. None. It was as if she's been waiting. For someone outside of her immediate family to notice.

I did. Many of us did. And so. We gathered around her on a brisk Saturday morning. We talked and and talked. There were phone calls, hard ones. There was laughter. There were tears. There was friendship.

Love.

I am a thinker. A theory girl. Sometimes, often, I get lost in the land of abstractions, flirting with words and ideas.

But this weekend I heeded my instinct, my profound instinct, and I acted. We acted.

And now. She is safe and getting some help. The help she so needs, and so deserves.

Do not ignore your instincts. If you think someone is struggling, and crying out, you are probably right.

{I apologize that this is so bare-boned, so bare-branched, so admittedly vague, but I feel this is necessary to protect my friend and her family. I almost didn't acknowledge this occurrence at all here on ILI, but I was, and am, very affected by all of this and so wanted to write about it, even if cryptically. I hope you all understand.}

Have you ever helped someone get the help they needed? Has anyone ever helped you get the help you needed?