I Saved a Stranger's Life Last Night

It's funny how things happen sometimes. Last night I was playing a game at Pogo.com and chatting with people in the room. This one girl mentioned some problems she'd been having in her life, and that she'd tried to commit suicide back in September. I told her I was very glad she wasn't successful, and then I said, "If you ever get to the point where you are considering it again, just remember that suicide is a very permanent solution to temporary problems." I also said that any time I hear talk of suicide, I am reminded of a line from the movie "It's a Wonderful Life". The angel says to Jimmy Stewart, "Each man's life touches so many other lives, that when he's gone, he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?"

We talked for awhile longer, then it was getting late, around 3am, so we all wound down to go to bed. As I was shutting down Pogo, I noticed I had a message...from someone I didn't know. The header line said simply, "Thank you". Out of curiousity I clicked to read it, and this is what I found:

Hello my name is lilaces you don't know me but I just wanted to send you a message and say thank you for the advice you gave to Ornery because three weeks ago my wife passed away and on Tuesday I found out that my mistress had a miscarriage with my baby and I was really thinking about ending my life because I didn't feel I had anything left to live for but you made me realize that what I'm going through is temporary and soon things will get better. SO thanks again and bless you!

Isn't it funny how things work out sometimes? I can't begin to tell you how getting this message made me feel. He never said a single word in the chat room, but took the time to send me this message and let me know. What if he hadn't been in there and seen those simple words I typed to another that ended up meaning so much? What if I had not been there to say them? Would he be just another statistic? Who knows...but it made me feel incredibly good to know that I had helped somebody make the decision to keep living their life, no matter how hard it may be right now. Even from the depths of this depression I've been going through for weeks, I was a bright spot...a beacon...in somebody else's life. Simply amazing!

I replied back to the message with this:

Wow! Oh my goodness, I don't know what to say! I'm so glad you happened to be in the room at the time!! You brought tears to my eyes...thank you for letting me know.

I'm very sorry to hear about the rough times you've been having. I understand, as I've had some of my own lately, for example my mother-in-law being diagnosed with brain tumors and has been through one surgery already with several more ahead of her.

Sorry for the loss of your wife, I know that had to be, and still be, very hard to deal with. I've also been through a miscarriage, and it is painful emotionally as well as physically.

If you ever need someone to talk to, send me a message! I'm a good listener. ;) And yes...the stuff you're going through is only temporary! Suicide is a very permanent solution. Hugs!!!

Yeah....then this morning I found this message:

Hey,
I'm glad too it's funny how God works because I was actually going to go straight to bed instead of going on to Pogo but something made me go onto Pogo.
Yeah I'm really upset about the rough times too but besides that it's really hard. I'm sorry to hear about your hard times I hope everything works out and you will be in my prayers.
Yes the death of my wife was and still is very hard because we were together for ten years but married for five she became my everything and we didn't know how sick she was until the day she died so we didn't even have time to prepare for it. It's so hard for me that I can't even go back to our house. And I actually TRIED to kill myself and was sent to the hospital.
But I just want to thank you again and say that you truly are an angel. I will write if I ever need someone to talk to and thanks again! Hugs and kiss

Now, I never claimed to be an angel, LOL....but I guess in this case maybe I was, at least for him. I went to bed thinking of this stranger I'd never met, but who I helped so much without even realizing at the time. I woke up thinking about him too.

I feel good.