By Todd Welsh
The other morning, as I pulled into the back parking lot on 5th Street in downtown Salina on my way to work—just like any other day—I noticed a lady sitting in her car. I’ve seen her many times downtown, but I didn’t know her name, and we’d never had much interaction. Still, something felt different that morning. Something felt… heavy.
As I walked past her car, her window was rolled down. I stopped and simply asked, “How are you today?”
She looked at me and said, “I’m not doing very good.”
I paused and gently asked why.
She reached into her purse and pulled out a program—a funeral program. On the front was a picture of a handsome young man, maybe 25 years old. She looked at me with pain in her eyes and said, “My son committed suicide, and I just can’t stop thinking about it.”
We stood there in the parking lot and talked for nearly twenty minutes. She told me all about her son, the life he lived, how close they were, and how she wasn’t sure she would ever recover from the loss. I did not have the perfect words—I mean, they definitely didn’t teach me this in real estate school. And obviously, I’m no counselor. But I listened. And that seemed to be what she needed most.
When we finished talking, she asked if she could give me a hug. She stepped out of the car, put her arms around me, and held on. She told me I was her “parking lot angel” that day. She said she had been sitting there praying that God would send her a sign… and then I happened to walk by.
As she thanked me, she admitted she felt a little embarrassed sharing so much because she barely knew me. I told her I’d seen her nearly every day, but I didn’t even know her name. She told me before we went our separate ways.
The next day, I still couldn’t stop thinking about her. I walked into Lauren Quinn Flowers and ordered a mason-jar bouquet to be delivered to her work. But as I walked out, I saw her again right there on Santa Fe. So I turned around, went back inside, canceled the delivery, grabbed the flowers, and walked them over to her myself.
I handed them to her and said, “I’ve been thinking about you and your story. Stay strong. Keep telling the story of your son. They say a person never really dies as long as their name is still spoken.”
I share this today because as the holiday season approaches, I’m reminded how little we really know about what others are going through. Some people don’t know where their next meal is coming from. Others are quietly dealing with loss, trauma, health issues, financial strain, divorce, or heartbreak.
My coach Joe always told me: “Be more interested than interesting.”
So my wish for everyone reading this, over the next 45 days as we enter Thanksgiving and Christmas, is simple:
When you gather with friends and family—be more interested than interesting. Ask questions. Bring up a memory. Share a story. Give someone a hug. Tell them what they mean to you.
We never truly know what someone is carrying.
Happy Holidays.
Todd
