From threats of violence to a hug

My friends and I sat outside at a cafe while we waited for our food.

A woman walked up to us.

She was somewhere in her seventies and walked with a rollator.

She began to share her story, saying that the police abused her at the bus stop the previous day

We walked back over towards the table with my friends, stopping in the exact spot six feet from them where she had stood before.

We hugged goodbye and she walked back in the direction she came from.

I sat back down with my friends.

"What happened?" They asked.

"Anger is terrible. She needed someone to listen to her. To hear her suffering. To give her space." I responded.

This is the gift we can give others.

To listen with an open heart and hold space.

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