Be Amongst Yourselves

When the hand on your back is from someone who knows exactly how to keep you from falling. When the words “I’ve got you” come from a place not of pity, but of absolute compassion and competence.

When you you see someone’s body failing and you move to limit their embarrassment in a way that reinforces their trust and betrays your past experience.

When you see an all too familiar symptom in someone else and spend energy to help them save face.

When a firm shout of “On your left!” reminds you that you’re among those like yourself.

When the air fills with the smell of burnt tires and taped hands.

When the words “I believe you in” becomes an absolute truth because you know where they’re coming from.

When you spot cruelty in the young and uninitiated and you pull them aside to remind them of the fears, flaws, and failures that they now mock in others.

When you show the older ones just how high of a pedestal they’re on and how far they’ll fall if they don’t take it seriously.

When you meet the eyes of a scared parent and relish the opportunity to show them their child at play with others who look, move and act like they do.

There’s comfort in familiarity. There’s peace in solidarity. When you see another one, one like you… the quick glance, the quiet nod. Those tiny things that say “I see you. We’re the same in some way. We matter.”

These things are the most important.