Excerpt from Writing to Recover: The Journey from Loss and Grief to a New Life.

Stress made me clumsy and I had lots of bruises because I kept bumping into furniture and walls. In one day, alone, I hit my head four times. Odd things happened, too, like the day I filed up my car at the Pump and Munch station. Just s I was about to pull away from the pump the ignition key slipped from my hand. From the sound of the clink I thought the key landed under the front passenger seat. But when I looked under the front seat I couldn’t find it. As the two station employees watched from the window, I crawled around on the pavement, with my butt in the air, and looked under all the car seats. No key.

I went into the station, explained my problem, asked to use the phone, and called my husband. By now I was crying and the station employees were looking at me worriedly. "Life has been hard lately,” I blubbered. "Four of my family members have died.”

"Don’t worry,” one man said. "I’ll find your key.” Despite the cold temperature, he followed me to the car in his shirtsleeves, looked under all the seats, and couldn’t find the key. Then he felt the small floor depressions under the driver’s seat and found it. He handed the key to me and grinned.

Tears drizzled down my face and I could hardly speak. "Thank you for your kindness,” I said. The man put his arms around me, patted my back, and told me to "take care.” Life really was out of control. A stranger was hugging me, I was hugging him and, at the rate we were going, we would be sending each other greeting cards.

I was able to smile about the incident later and it taught me an important lesson. Bad things happen to good people and when they do, good people – even strangers – reach out to help. The thought comforted me and I held it close to my heart.

To order Writing to Recover: The Journey from Loss and Grief to a New Life, the Writing to Recover Journal, which contains 100 writing prompts, and the beautiful Writing to Recover Affirmations Calendar call Centering Corporation’s toll-free number 1-866-218-0101. You will also find Writing to Recover grief resources on www.amazon.com.

To communicate with author Harriet Hodgson log onto Centering Corporation’s website, www.centering.org, and click on the blog. Centering Corporation is re-designing its website and blog access will be available shortly.