Nona

I met a woman this week and she has been stuck in my thoughts ever since. Her name is Nona and she is in her 60's. She wore a florescent yellow t-shirt and had the best "live life to the fullest and don't worry what other people think" mentality. What started out as a friendly conversation outside of Dairy Queen, bantering back and forth about jazz music, with my friends turned into a tearful conversation as she shared about her estranged son. He had spoken harsh words to her and she was crushed. I was struck by how heavy of a burden she carried for the damaged relationships in her life and how it affected her so profoundly that her words and tears spilled out to total strangers. She really just needed someone else to hear how heavy her heart was and to share the burden for even just a brief conversation. It makes me wonder how many people I come across are carrying those heavy burdens but they just haven't spilled out yet. How much are we willing to carry and what is it that brings us to that point where we let it all spill out?