To The Mom I Met At The Park Today....

To the mom I met at the park today....

You are an inspiration and a motivation.

We started out just watching our kids play. The kids started to play together so we started to talk.

We laughed and totally joked around talking about our lives.

You listened when I told you about my son's Autism and you openly asked questions since my story sounded familiar to a friend of yours and you wanted to know more.

We played red light, green light and even had another kiddo join ours as we laughed some more. We even had the opportunity to teach our kids patience and sharing.

It was awesome.

I thought to myself, wow this mom is so cool and seems like a strong solid lady and mother...

Then it came up... I am not even sure I remember how, but you said your husband died. I asked you how long and you openly and calmly told me... suicide, the day after Christmas two years ago when my baby was 5mo and my older was 2....

My heart sank, I felt like I could hug you, but the best I could do to my new friend was touch just touch your arm and say I'm sorry.

I told you how amazing your kids are and how lovely they played with my son.

You told me you had no idea the demons inside your husband that hurt him so much, enough to lead him to take his life when he was so happy laughing and making others laugh all of the time.

I told you I was sorry and told you that your doing an amazing job and you are holding it together and moving upward for yourself and your kids..but what I didn't tell you is that daily I feel like I do a lot on my own... I sometimes feel like I am alone even though today I was reminded how I'm not. I also didn't tell you that listening to you made me realize once again that everyone has struggles and strife but can deal with it in a way that we grow from or dwell on.

I want you to know, my new friend, you made me smile, laugh and appreciate my life with your story and the life you are living with your beautiful kids.

I just want that mom and all mom's to know that we can all stick together and support one another with just simple kindness in conversation and sometimes we can learn from one another when we least expect it.

Thanks for the fun and emotionally healthy time today. ...you are a rock star mom!

I hope you read this and share your story with many others and... I hope to see you at the park again soon!