Difference

About a week ago (http://wanderandworldwalk.blogspot.com/2014/10/to-hear.html), I wrote about a girl who confessed to me that her mother was rapidly growing abusive and she was terrified of he. I was unable to work with her since that day, as I was assigned to different groups, but on the day of her discharge I happened to be her staff again. She was smiling, happy, writing little notes to the staff that she wanted to thank. And then she pulled me aside.

“I'm not going to write you a note, Miss Miri, but you're amazing. You're the first adult to actually listen to me—they sent my mom to a mental hospital because of you, and I'm hoping she'll be able to get help. I thought no one would listen; you proved me wrong.”

And she gave me a big hug as she walked out the door.

I'm blinking back tears even now. I had hoped to know what kind of impact I might have made, to know if I actually made a difference, even a small one, and I am so incredibly blessed to have that knowledge. She was so scared that if CPS got involved, she would be pulled away from her family, and instead they were able to get her mother help and give her hope. She left my unit happy and smiling, eager to go home, to see her father and siblings again without having to worry about her mom hurting them.

It was a wonderful reminder that everyone deserves someone to listen to, everyone deserves a chance to be understood. Sure, her tearful confessions put me back in my paperwork and made me miss my break and caused me some serious stress, but knowing that she was heard because of me is amazing. I am so glad I listened, so glad I wrote down all of her sobbing, half-formed thoughts, and that her social worker took the time to talk to her. We made a difference, a real, solid difference, in that girl's life, and to me that is worth all the stress and exhaustion that one night caused me. She is a brilliant and wonderful girl; I wish her every happiness, as I do with all of the children I work with.

And next time I find a girl sobbing in her room, reopening her old wounds and hysterical, I will remember this girl, and I will listen.

And I will hope, as always, that I can make a difference.