Simply being alongside another

Artist: Elpidiforowitsch Borissow-Mussatow

Image from Wikimedia Commons

It's one of those stories by an unknown author. And it's a good one:

There was once an elderly, despondent woman in a nursing home. She wouldn't speak to anyone or request anything. She merely existed - rocking in her creaky old rocking chair.

The old woman didn't have many visitors. But every couple mornings, a concerned and wise young nurse would go into her room. She didn't try to speak or ask questions of the old lady. She simply pulled up another rocking chair beside the old woman and rocked with her.

Weeks or months later, the old woman finally spoke."Thank you," she said. "Thank you for rocking with me."

I wonder how many hurting people are out there silently pleading with the rest of us, "Don't try to fix me; just be with me."