You are loved

While my friend and I were strolling around downtown Olympia this evening, we were taking photos of the beautiful sunset, and basically just looking for a good time.

We came across a man standing on the side of the road. There were many "awwwws" and "ohhhhs" coming from different people walking by and driving by in their cars. We glanced over and noticed he was holding a huge card board sign that read on one side "You are loved." and on the opposite side " you are important".  It's pretty unlikely that you see this everyday. So I was overcome by happiness and excitement. The closest thing I see to that is a man on the side of the road holding a sign, begging for money, or good weed.

We started chatting with Daniel and I asked him why he does this. He responded to say that 6 years ago his sister committed suicide, and he was not sure why, and that he suspected that maybe she never felt important, or adequate. He began to start standing on street corners and waving his sign around, trying his best, to let people know they are loved. Daniel said, "I don't know what people are going through. Maybe i'll stop someone from doing something tragic."

The fact that this man would take that burden on, and turn such a horrible incident into such a glorious one, was astonishing. Might I add, quite inspiring. Although suicide is not necessarily a thought for me, I know that  everyone, including myself, can feel inadequate at times.

Simply seeing this hand made sign, and this mans smile, made me feel a little more important. And sometimes, thats all it takes to save someones life.

Thanks, Daniel.