Hajja Salesjana July-September 2022

• Parents whose children are terminally ill. • Couples in the middle of divorce. • People grieving loss of loved ones and relationships. • Kids being bullied at school. • Teenagers who want to end their lives. • People marking the anniversary of a death. • Parents worried about their depressed teenager. • Spouses whose partners are deployed in combat. • Families with no idea how to keep the lights on. • Single parents with little help and little sleep. Everyone is grieving and worried and fearful, and yet none of them wear the signs, none of them have labels, and none of them come with written warnings reading, ‘I’M STRUGGLING. BE NICE TO ME.’ And since they don’t, it’s up to you and me to look more closely and more deeply at everyone around us: at work or at the gas station or in the produce section, and to never assume they aren’t all just hanging by a thread. Because most people are hanging by a thread — and our simple kindness can be that thread. We need to remind ourselves just how hard the hidden stories around us might be, and to approach each person as a delicate, breakable, invaluable treasure — and to handle them with care. As you make your way through the world today, people won’t be wearing signs to announce their mourning or to alert you to the attrition or to broadcast how terrified they are — but if you look with the right eyes, you’ll see the signs. There are grieving people all around you. Go easy. Photo by Helena Lopes - www.unsplash.com 31 Lulju - Settembru 2022 hajja