Deb sent me the most amazing YouTube video today which happens to fit perfectly with a story I want to share with you all. When Erik was in one of his deepest, darkest periods, two angels crossed his path at the perfect moment. He was waiting in front of the IHOP restaurant near the high school for a friend that was supposed to pick him up and take him home. Many of Erik’s friends were not very reliable. They screened his calls. They betrayed his trust. They broke their promises. This was one of those occasions. I was working all day that day so I couldn’t pick him up for several hours. So, he was left sitting on the bench in front of the restaurant. He realized that his friend had abandoned him when every time he called to ask “where the heck are you?” the phone would pick up and then click off. The school is so far away from our house, that walking was not an option. So there Erik sat, head in his hands, feeling once again quite unloved and lonely.
Sabrina and Brenda, two waitresses in the IHOP, sensed his despair and invited him to come in a sit. He politely accepted. They asked him if he was hungry, and he said that he was because he hadn’t eaten anything all day long. So, they asked him what he’d like to eat, and he answered, “Oh, I’m sorry. I don’t have any money. I guess I’ll just go back outside and wait.” “No,” they said, you sit right there and we’ll take care of you.” And they served him enough food to feed an entire third world nation. When I picked him up, he told me his story and said it had renewed his faith in humanity. He couldn’t believe those two wonderful women cared enough about him, a complete stranger, to take care of both his stomach and his heart. For a long while, he felt loved and un-alone.
Yesterday, Robert, Michelle, Arleen and I had breakfast at that same IHOP. I wasn’t sure who the women were that took care of my boy, so I asked our waitress, “Do you remember anyone here feeding a young man who had been waiting in front for hours, and who had no money?” She replied, “Yes, you mean that nice young boy, Erik! That was Sabrina and me. He was so polite and so grateful. Such a good kid.” So I told her what kind of impact their kindness made on him for months and months. She was completely floored. She didn’t know what to say. Then she asked, “How is Erik?” Then came the tough part. “He’s dead.” She took a step back and put a hand over her heart and asked, “How?” I told her he had shot himself in the head, that he had suffered for years from bipolar disease and just couldn’t find peace any other way. She and Sabrina were both stunned. Then I added, “I want you both to know that you made the last several months of his life happier, because you reached out to him. You gave him hope, and you gave him love. He always had a hard time realizing that he was surrounded by love, but you two helped him remember that.” Then with tears brimming, I added, “I’m very grateful to you for giving such a wonderful gift to my son.”
On a note of comic relief, while we were eating, I told Robert, “Wouldn’t it have been horrible if, when Brenda asked how he died, I’d had said, ‘Food poisoning'”? Robert and I (and Erik, too, of course) just belly laughed, and Robert admonished me teasingly with, “You’re so bad, Elisa!” Of course, if you told me a year ago that this type of humor would have passed my lips, I’d have thought you were crazy!
As we left, I gave both Brenda and Sabrina big warm hugs from Erik, showed them some of my favorite photos of him, scribbled out the URL for our blog, and left. I hope they both join the Channeling Erik family.
That said, it’s amazing how easy it is to touch a heart, to save a life, to give the gift of hope.
And now, enjoy this inspiring video of Deb’s. It made me sob.
