24 Sep A Stranger’s Act of Love

By Jennifer Vickery

It all started when my computer crashed. My mother’s helper called in sick. It was a Monday. My 2-year-old and 3-month-old needed me and so did my work.  But this isn’t a story about that. This is a story about a complete stranger’s love.

I called technical support and spoke with a representative. She had a beautiful accent and was very professional in her manner. I’ll never meet her or even know her real name other than “Hazel B.” I’ll probably never have the chance to even speak with her again. But what she did for me was profound on this day.

The tech support call started like any other. She began diagnosing my computer, asking me questions and getting remote access. Meanwhile, my arms were full with children, my phone was simultaneously ringing and emails were coming in.

She heard my baby crying and asked, “Is the baby tired or hungry?” This seemed like an odd question for the type of call it was, especially since the conversation never once veered off the technical support topic. Yet this was a natural question to come from another woman. I answered with both heavy stress and relief, “Neither, she just wants me to move and since we’re working on the computer, I can’t.” She then said in a kind tone—a different tone than the professional tech support tone she  had been using for the call—“We can take our time. Move around with her. You can do this. You’re Superwoman.”

She proceeded to tell me HERStory. She has a 10-, 6-, 5 and 2-year-old children. She said “We do whatever we can to make it work. You can do this. You are strong.”

She added, “I’ve been where you are, and it’s going to be okay.” She told me what she had to do to make her family work. She was in another country and explained her unique hardships. Even though her situation was different, it wasn’t. It was the same.

HERStory and her words were inspiring to me. She was a stranger, and I was very stressed; yet she immediately and simplistically connected with me. She showed me an act of love. And that is something I won’t forget.

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