06/14/2025
🔔 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝟏𝟖, 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧’𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫…
As a youth, I did volunteer work — bringing hope and conversation to those who lacked it.
Klara was an old woman I had only visited a few times before.�
She lived DEEP in the woods.�🌲
She had an 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 story of resilience. 💫
As a young woman, she had fled the 𝐍𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐩, �moving silently along mountain ridges until she crossed borders to safety. Eventually, she made her home in rural Canada, where I met her.
🌲 That day, we had already visited several people, and as the afternoon wound down, someone said:
“𝐋𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐠𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 — we’re tired and hungry. That’s enough for one Sunday!”
I felt EXACTLY the same way… �YET, something in me said:�
“𝐍𝐨 — 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐊𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐚. 𝐈𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 NOW!”
This was very unlike me. I was an introverted 18 yr old — everyone else in the car was twice my age.
But I wasn’t trying to be disrespectful.�
𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫.
💨 We rerouted and finally reached her rustic cottage.
No answer at the door.�
Her dogs were barking — louder and more desperate than usual.�
𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠! ⚠️
“I’m going in,” I said.
“You can’t — it’s breaking and entering!”
(my older friend whispered.)
𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟.
�I’d never done something like that before…�
Yet I pushed opened the door HARD and walked right in.
There she was — Klara — seated at the kitchen table,
her white hair spilling over her large, arthritic hands.
𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞.
The dogs were frantic.�
She was eerily calm.
“Klara, what is the matter?”
She motioned to her throat.�
𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. 💀
She had accepted she was going to
DIE… ALONE … at her table.
I asked: “Do you want my help?”
She nodded.
�I had no training.� But I stood her up, calling to my friend for help.
“I can’t… I don’t know what to do…” she replied, faint & frozen.
“𝐍𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐨 𝐈, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈’𝐦 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐲.” I said.
I had only seen the Heimlich maneuver once on TV.
I prayed, and I acted. ✨🙏
I pressed below her ribcage ...
The bread flew out.�
𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐢𝐫 — 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐩𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬.
I gently laid her on the floor.
Then… something ASTONISHING happened...
She bowed.� Forehead to the floor, then rose.�
Again and again.
“Klara, why are you bowing?”
“𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐬,” 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝. 🕊️
“You are an angel. There are angels all around you.”
😮 That day, I didn’t just save a life.
𝐈 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧.👂
�To act on that whisper inside.�
To trust my gut — even when it made no sense to others.
✨ 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞.
It helps me navigate complexity with clarity and courage.�
It urges people I help to move forward when the path isn’t clear.�
💭 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐮𝐭 𝐏𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐭?✨
💭 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 & 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 direction?
