A bit BROKEN

Life can be extra tough at times, as we all know too well. 

I remember talking with a friend a few years ago and he said, “You know Steve, we’re all a bit broken.” His insightful comment made me think that we need to stop pretending that things are ‘tickety-boo’ when they are not. Be real, ask for help and let people be kind to you. 

I used to tell a story to audiences about a girl I knew who was hit by a runaway car and tragically died a few hours later. She was sitting next to me on a bank and I felt the wind of the car as it smashed into her. I was 10 years old and she was a similar age. 

After the story telling I spoke with the audiences about life being precious and to spend all the time we possibly could with our children. 

One year I told this story (titled ‘And the car came down’) to an audience of refugee teachers at a refugee centre in Cape Town, South Africa. For the first time ever, I had to stop speaking as warm tears filled the bottom edge of my glasses and spilled down onto my sweatshirt. The agony of grief overwhelmed me. This had never happened before so I spoke with our education aid team leader, Glenys, as to why she thought I cried. “Perhaps Steve, the teachers (who all had horrific survival stories) needed to see you broken, just like them.” 

I reckon she was right.