I'm sure you've heard that saying before. Everyone has a battle they are fighting. On the surface you may never know the pain a person is going through.
Recently I had the opportunity to speak with a man. He was in his 60's. He could have easily past for 75. He was a short, stout man. His attempt at a comb over was cute with his thin strands of dark hair. His features were hard. He looked worn. He started telling my about his medical problems. A wonderful benefit of being a nurse, people you barely know feel the need to share there medical issues with you.
As we talked he shared with me his past and that included many years of drug and alcohol abuse. He talked about the cocaine and the beer and how he went weeks without knowing where he was. He states he lost days and weeks at a time. I didn't judge him. I told him that it was awesome that it was all behind him now. He asked me if I were curious why he was an addict. I said no and I'd never ask if I were. I told him many people have skeletons and I'm not going to judge him for his past. He just started at me. After a few minutes he said, "I'm a Veteran and went to the Vietnam War". I told him I understood that many people came home from the war and had demons to address. He looked at me with the most pitiful eyes and said, "honey the war was nothing". I nodded waiting for more. He looked at me and told me his story of coming home from Vietnam and getting married and having kids. He said he had a decent job and had a good life. He talked about how they built a house and it was a nice winter night when he went to work after living in their new home for just 3 short months, and then the unthinkable occurred. The house caught fire and burned down with his wife and kids inside. I immediately got a sick feeling and the words came out before I could stop them...how are you still alive. He looked at me and smiled and said honestly I don't know. He told me about how the alcohol and drugs masked the pain when he wasn't trying to kill himself. He told me he thought about it a lot and even tried to overdose a few times but couldn't. He told me he didn't often talk about this with people especially near strangers but he felt like he needed to tell me.
So I am sharing this with you.
Please remember you never know what people have been though or are going through. Be kind to people. A simple smile may go a very long way!
