thanking Firebird / coincidence or gift?

3 years down the line - and i m still wondering who Firebird is.

during a rather rough time in my third year of law school - early 2006 - a person who chose to call himself/herself Firebird left kind and encouraging comments on my blog. the sort that lifts your spirits up and takes you out of yourself, even for a little bit.

i never got to find out who he/she was. and later, when things had calmed down a little, Firebird had stopped commenting.

if you're reading this, Firebird, i just want to thank you for your comments. you may not have known this, but they kept me going then. and reading them now still puts a smile on my face. whoever you are, God bless you.

***

wondered about this last night - too many times for me to call it coincidence.

how many times have i called someone up, a friend, family members - only to find that a catastrophe had just occured and that i was able to offer some form of comfort or help?

the timing is what's uncanny. i don't know what drives me to reach out in that instant, but the moment i do, i find that it was such a very good thing that i did so because my friends and family need me at that point.

i find that i am able to offer comfort, calm restless and unhappy spirits and give support. sometimes words are inadequate, and that's when a hug, a squeeze of the shoulders are my somewhat simple efforts at comforting those around me.

if this is indeed a gift, it's not one that makes money. it's not a glamourous gift, nor one that attracts attention. but the amount of pleasure and satisfaction i derive from restoring wholeness to brokenness, raising flagging spirits from sorrow and despair more than makes up for it.

... a girl sat on the steps of UM's 3rd floor library staircase - she looked disturbed and distraught. i wondered if she had been crying. on the spur of the moment, i offered her some tissue. she said no, but she gave me such a smile ...