So I have this memory of being in a department store with my mother and older sister. I am like 4 or 5. We are at the top of the escalator and I am so scared to go down,so afraid I am going to fall. My mother says I will stay in front of you so if you fall it will be on me. But I tell her I still won't go I am too afraid I am crying. She and my sister go down. I am at the top of the escalator crying,too scared to go down and scared now that she has left me alone and is yelling at me. This nice Dad with two young boys told him he would hold me and I would be ok. He held me in his arms down the escalator. My mother was mad at me. I felt so safe and good in his arms. Wished I could have stayed with him.
The kindness of others can stand in stark contrast to what we grew up with. I am glad this stranger stepped up at the right time and right place and was able to give you comfort. Sometimes it is the seemingly insignificant things that reveal so much. Just having someone stand in the same space you are in emotionally and allow to you experience things at your own pace (not per their demand of you) is powerful.