"Are you okay?"

Last night I had tweeted about how I had sat next to a girl on the subway who was crying and how I had reached out to her. The response I got was overwhelming. In all honesty, I didn't expect a response of any kind and I didn't tweet about to get a response. I was just sharing a piece of my reality.

I was reading a book and I had looked over and noticed her shoes were really cute. I decided to tell her I thought her shoes were cute and as she said thank you she was wiping away a massive tear and sniffling. I asked if she was okay, if anything had happened, if I could help her in any way. She simply responded, "I'm just having a really bad day, but thank you for asking... you were the first person to ask me if I was okay today." Wow. I wasn't sure how early she woke up today, but it was already 8pm and I was the first person to ask how she was? I couldn't believe it. She then started to talk about her shoes and I had mentioned to her a web site where I like to browse and have ordered some cute shoes from. As she rummaged through her bag that was chock full of stuff, "you must stop by the shop my mom and I own. Please, you need to!" "Unfortunately, I might need to refresh your memory with this moment when I stop by so you remember me," I responded. "That's okay! I'll remember how great it was that you asked how I was doing and that you cared."

It was a short lived conversation, we only sat next to one another for about 4 stops. But after she left it made me think of a moment I had nearly two weeks ago with a dear friend of mine:

Two Friday's ago it was the end of a very long long week, I was emotional and really tired. I was walking through the building where I work and a friend of mine stopped me, she ended her phone call, and pointed to the bench nearby to sit down. My friend reached over to wrap her arms around me and asked if I was okay. I broke down. I started crying. She said that I looked sad and as a friend she feels my sadness and you do not let your friends walk around that way. I composed myself and said, "I'm not sad, just having a rough week and it's been a bad day... you are the first person to ask me how I am!" She continued to explain to me that as friends you always feel your friends sadness and happiness, you should always be concerned about their well being.

Later that day I was reflecting on this and started to tear up (with happy tears), because I have a friend who genuinely cares and took that time to ask me how I was. It wasn't a quick passing how people say, "hi, how are ya?" and keep walking. This was a sit down asking of how I was. I just felt so blessed and fortunate to know that I have a friend like that (she's not the only one, but we crossed paths at that moment).

Last night I thought about how I took that moment for a stranger, a good friend had taken that time for me, and that we really need to make more of those moments in our lives.

Feel free to follow me @rachellelucero on twitter. Or, better yet, please take the time to ask someone every day how they're doing or if they're okay.

Easter Sunday.

When I look back on Easter (just like any other religious holiday that includes family gatherings) from the time I could start remembering to about the age of 13, it was an okay holiday. I remember going to my maternal grandmother's and finding the Easter basket (that was loaded with candy) and then hunting for plastic eggs (that were stuffed with candy or money) and feeling sick by the time we went to church. My grandmother totally believed in letting me indulge on candy on Easter!

But then, we reached a Dark Period where we didn't go to that grandmother's house anymore for Easter, instead we went to my paternal grandfather's mother's house (too many apostrophes?). I hated spending Easter there! There aren't many things I use the word 'hate' with, but I hated going there for Easter and I hate ham. My great grandmother was an extreme gossiper, very petty woman, and put ham in everything. Her house wasn't exactly kid friendly either so it was boring and full of ham. My great grandfather was a quiet man, I don't recall really having conversations with him (or his wife) like I did my other sets of great grandparents.

I made it out alive though, that's what counts!

But now, Easter is a day where I reflect on how far I've come in life, what's to come, and what has been done for me. I hope that Easter is a day for you to reflect, as well as spending time with family. But I also hope it's a time for non-believers to wonder what the heck these Church People are up to!


Okay, it's time to go not eat ham... HAPPY EASTER!