"Then it Happened"

Gloria has always felt that she had so much in her to share with others. Words that would be of help, hope and encouragement. There was always this monologue going on in her head between herself and herself. Gloria has always struggled with self-doubt. The thought of her sharing her thoughts on paper with others gave her pure anxiety! Writing for others to read, pass around to share, criticize, misunderstand; something she could not control the distribution of…pure anxiety!!

Despite Gloria’s timidity and lack of self-confidence, her friends called on her a lot to be their sounding-board. She had become all of her friend’s go-to person whenever they had a problem. Gloria was an excellent listener; she did not criticize or judge them, she just listened to them. I guess this is why they felt safe talking about their problems with her. In her mind, she always had these running conversations, but remained silent and just listened. From time to time her friends would ask her for advice, if she gave any, it was reluctantly. The little she would share with them was priceless; they had such admiration and respect for Gloria and would often encourage her to write.

Gloria kept a journal with most of her thoughts written in it, but it was under lock and key. She kept it in a secret place in her apartment, where she lived alone with her pet poodle named Jordan, who she would occasionally share her private thoughts with. This was partly because she knew those conversations would remain between the two of them and also no one could criticize her for her thoughts.

When Gloria was a little girl, she used to write letters to her parents to express her how she felt, but she never gave them the letters. You see, Gloria did not have the ideal childhood. She suffered verbal abuse growing up from parents who were overworked and underpaid and took it out one another when at home, which put Gloria in the line of fire of their arguments. Writing was Gloria’s way of dealing with the pain of her unhappy childhood. She would spend hours writing while hiding in her closet or on a park bench when she was on the way home from school; anywhere she could find peace and quiet to hear her thoughts. Eventually, her parent’s marriage ended in divorce and Gloria and her mom continued to struggle. Not long after the divorce, her mom went into a deep depression and Gloria was forced to go live with her grandparents. Gloria loved her mom and dad dearly so all this happening to her family caused her to slip into a deep depression as well. Gloria was only a freshman in high school, at this time. Through her depression, Gloria continued to journal. Along with the counseling she received, by the time she reached her sophomore year in high school, she begins to come out of it. Gloria eventually, graduates and goes off to college, and lands a great job. She had made a wonderful life for herself but has also become somewhat of a recluse. She does not hang out much, except for the near by coffee house where she is able to spend time reading and writing in her journal. Her hand full of friends are those she had become acquainted with in college and at work.

Like everyone, there always come a time in our life that will cause us to reach beyond ourselves and come out of our comfort zone. Then this happened…

One particular evening on the way home from work Gloria was faced with reaching beyond her timidity, and anxieties. After boarding the subway and taking a seat, a young lady sat next to her and out of nowhere, almost immediately started dumping her whole life issues on her. It was as if this lady had been seeking to talk to somebody, anybody who would listen to her! She cried and cried while sharing certain occurrences in her life. Gloria was astonished; she looked with amazement and fear that this young lady, without hesitation, would share such personal details of her life with a total stranger! The fear Gloria experienced derived from the part of this woman's story, which insinuated she had been contemplating suicide, after all, Gloria could easily identify with the lady, because of what she had went through early on in her own life. At this moment Gloria knew in her heart, she had to say something to help this lady. Gloria began to talk to her and share with her a situation that happened in her own life that made her, at one time, determine that maybe she would be better off not living and what helped her overcome the thoughts. Gloria and the lady wept together over each other's issues and finally ended with tears of joy. Despite the stares from others on the subway and the attention brought on from the ladies weeping, neither of the ladies were distracted.

The young lady was so grateful to Gloria for sharing her story and how she triumphed over her trials, she thanked and hugged Gloria repeatedly. By this time, the subway was coming to its next stop. They both got off and continued to wave goodbye to one another, with tears in their eyes, as they went their separate ways. The young lady was excited about living again, because of what Gloria shared with her. Gloria felt a since of liberty and fulfillment knowing she just possibly saved someone’s life!

This inspired Gloria to start sharing her story, experiences, and wisdom with the world. She had decided to start writing to help others and she would begin by creating her own blog. She wanted to encourage and help as many people as possible!

Through writing, Gloria realized that not only would she be helping others, but it was a continual healing for her, as well. Gloria made the decision she would no longer allow fear and anxiety to stop her from using her gift to reach out to others. Those thoughts would now be put on paper to share with everyone!

 by Andra Boudreaux