The power of human connection is profound.
One evening, back in the late 1980s, I took an extraordinary phone call. At the time I answered my ringing phone, I had no idea I was about to help someone who desperately needed a human connection.
The young man on the phone was soft-spoken. I didn’t recognize the voice. He seemed confused. Assuming he had dialed a wrong number, I asked him who he was trying to reach and what number he dialed.
He told me he just dialed a number at random. I said, “I see, okay.” Then, I asked him what’s going on. He was quiet. I asked him his name. He told me that it didn’t matter what his name was. At this point, my instincts kicked in and I felt that I needed to stay on the line and talk to him. Just talk.
So, I introduced myself to him, told him that it was nice to meet him, then chattered to fill the quiet. After a few minutes, he told me that he was thinking of killing himself.
My heart dropped, but something inside my soul took over. Hoping that I didn’t gasp aloud at his confession, I took a deep breath and softly told him that I was someone he didn’t know, and he could say anything to me. Anything. I softly encouraged him to talk it out with me. He did.
We talked for quite a while, and during this time, his tone changed. I was connecting with this young man. He started to feel comfortable with me. He needed someone to listen to him and did not feel he could talk to his family. As we spoke, I looked up the number to a Suicide hotline and had it at my fingertips. When I felt the time was right, I encouraged him to make a call to them. He answered with an emphatic “no.” I didn’t push it and changed the subject. I didn’t want him to lose faith in me; this anonymous woman with whom he started to trust.
After a little while, I again gently encouraged him to call the professionals at the hotline explaining how they might be able to him much better than I. Finally, he said he would call the Suicide Hotline. For me. He said he would call them for me. My heart fluttered.
I will never know if he called. My heart hurts, even now when I think of this telephone call; and this young man who so desperately needed a human connection.
I think about him now and then and wonder if he made it through that tough time in his life. I hope so.
I wonder if he thinks of me now and then. I hope so.
Originally written August 12, 2014. Photo courtesy of Pixabay.
Suicide Hotline: Call 1-800-273-8255
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You don’t have to be a mental health professional to help someone in your life that may be struggling. Learn the Lifeline’s 5 steps that you can use to help a loved one that may be in crisis.