I don’t really use tumblr anymore but I do check it occasionally and keep scrolling until I come across a familiar post. And from time to time, I see those inspirational posts where I think to myself, “how would I react in that situation?” or simply remind myself how much one’s actions could truly touch the lives of others. Well, I can finally say I had my moment today. I’m a phone operator for gift fruit and most of the costumers I deal with are around the age of 62 and older. Doesn’t sound like the most appealing job out there, but I actually love it. Today I answer the phone with my usual script and hear crying in the background, I said hello about five times and still didn’t hear an answer. Unlike most of the operators I work with, I stayed on the phone just hoping for someone to answer. I finally get a muffled “hello, just one second please.” I’m waiting on the phone for about another five minutes hoping that one of my supervisors don’t walk by. A lady begins talking and telling me that she is so sorry for wasting my time and that she was a fool for crying and before I had time to question her she begin to rant on about how she burried her husband that she married out of high school last week and that she finally had the courage to go through his cell phone and came across my company’s number. She said that as soon as she heard my greeting it dawned on her that the number she called was the number her husband would order fruit from the past 10 years and every new years eve they would sit under their “rainbow tree” (I quote from her) and enjoy the fruit together just before the clock struck 12. Of course then my heart begins to break, and I couldn’t help but to shed a few tears but somehow managed to hold it in. She also explained how it was always just her and him, that they had no children, pets, no friends, just them. In love. After she finished saying her last thoughts it was silent, and she said “dear you’re quiet which means you hung up or you’re thinking, what are you thinking?” I briefly said that I have been with the same guy for 5 years and would be devastated if I lost him and that I was sorry that I couldn’t even fathom the pain that she was going through. She chuckled and just began to go on and on about her husband Carl, and thanked me over and over for listening to her and saying very few but just the right things to make her smile. The last thing she said to me was “don’t feel sorry, just don’t stop loving.” As soon as the call ended I had to rush to the bathroom to cry and let it all out within the next five minutes before I got myself fired. I couldn’t gather my thoughts. The remaining of my day was just blank. All I could think of were those last words she said to me. Right after my last call, instead of going home I grabbed my debit card, went to her husband’s file and sent a tray of the same tangerines that her husband would purchase to her address for Christmas Eve and New Years Eve with the gift message, “Don’t feel sorry, just don’t stop loving.” At least I know she can spend the holidays thinking about all of the amazing times she shared with her husband rather than just crying from loneliness.