Dear you,

I’m looking into your eyes and they’re telling me the most heart-wrenching story. A story of strife, stress, and loss. A story that seems to go on and on, one that has no ending. A story that’s been forcing you to lose countless hours of sleep for weeks now, causing the bags under your eyes to become more prominent than before. People are starting to wonder. . .

Your story pains me. Your story worries me.

Let me reach out to you, let me hold your hand and be the one to stop the tears trickling down your cheeks.

I heard your cry of help. I heard the way you spoke of your problems at school; how you felt you would never be a good student; that your parents would never be proud of you.

I saw your cry of help. I watched you sit by yourself today at lunch, your friends offering to sit with you, and you told them to come back another time. You felt alone and you didn’t know why.

I wiped away your tears of sorrow. Today, you allowed me to approach you and you didn’t get up and walk away from me. Do you remember what I said? I want you to remember these words when you’re feeling discouraged, when you feel like the world isn’t listening to you and you’re alone:

Please know, that you’re incredibly loved. You’re loved so much, by so many people, it’s impossible for one person to be able to grasp the concept. You’re unique, one of a kind. There isn’t a person in the world that has your laugh, your smile, your genuine eyes, and your golden heart. You’re irreplaceable.

Please don’t doubt yourself. I always tell people that “the world is their oyster” ‒ do you know what that means? That means that you can do anything you put your heart and mind to, that you have no limits in this life. You are given the chance to live just once and only once do you have the opportunity to live it to the best of your abilities. Never take each day you are given for granted. Please, never forget there is a purpose to each day you live.

When you woke up this morning, did you ever think about how you were given the gift of a new day? That God was able to open your eyes for another day in this world and look down at you and say, “You’re going to accomplish something amazing today, that’s why you’re alive. I believe in you.”

Whether you’re a student, a professor, an employee ‒ whoever you happen to be when you come across these words in the newspaper ‒ just remember that you’re so incredibly loved and you DO make a difference in someone’s life. Promise me, that you will never forget this.

Your’s Truly,

A Kind Stranger