The gift of trust

The other day an acquaintance dropped by unexpectedly. I had only met Laura recently, but there had been an immediate click. We seemed to have a lot in common. My wife also liked her, so we settled on the couch with some drinks and talked about our lives, to get to know each other better. After a few hours, Laura seemed to feel so relaxed and at home that she shared some of the deep pain that had been troubling her since childhood. She was very reluctant to do so, because she didn't want to impose upon us and certainly didn't want to burden us with her "stuff." She kept apologizing and checking if it was ok to pour her heart out.

We managed to convince her that it was fine. We had all the time in the world, we weren't going anywhere and we liked listening to her. She relaxed and decided to trust us. Over the next hour, the whole story, including all the emotions, poured out. When she left we all felt great. Laura felt great because she wasn't carrying the burden alone anymore. And we felt great because we realized that Laura had given us the greatest gift any human being can possibly give: trust.