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To the Little Boy at Waffle House Who Brought Me Out of an Anxiety Attack

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author wearing waffle house uniform

You could not have been more than 4 years old.

Maybe even younger.

I think you were too young to understand what you did. You probably thought you were just giving a random stranger a quick hug. You weren’t tall enough to do any more than wrap your little arm around my leg.

For me, you did so much more than just give a hug.

I was stuck in an anxiety attack that was pushing 15 minutes by the time you changed it. It only took you five seconds to put me at ease. You said something, and I couldn’t understand what it was, but your mother was with you and said, “How sweet.”

I don’t think she knew why you did what you did. She smiled and politely ushered you out the door of the Waffle House where you had just had breakfast. I didn’t seat you and didn’t really see you until that moment.

You may forget this if you already haven’t.

Either way I want to say thank you.

Thank you for doing in five seconds what very well may have taken me the rest of my shift to do.

Thank you for ending an anxiety attack for me and letting me know there are still great people in this world.

Kudos to you, little one, and kudos to your parents for raising such a sweet boy.

Lead photo via Waffle House Facebook.

The Mighty is asking its readers the following: Describe the moment a stranger — or someone you don’t know very well — showed you or a loved one incredible love. If you’d like to participate, please send a blog post to community@themighty.com. Please include a photo for the piece, a photo of yourself and 1-2 sentence bio. Check out our Submit a Story page for more about our submission guidelines.

Originally published: March 29, 2016
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