When I was in Holland once I
stayed with a family for a few days. They had a girl
about 7 years old. She came downstairs crying one
day. I was at the computer. She sat on the sofa. I
knew I had to do something to help her, but wasn't
sure what to do. So I went over and sat next to her.
She came closer to me and I put my arm around her.
She put her head into my chest and cried. She looked
up for a few seconds, then started talking. But since
it was in Dutch, I didn't understand one word. The
only thing I understood was name of her sister, who
she had been upstairs with. I assumed they got into
some kind of argument and thatīs why she came down
crying. I just held her and gave her a light kiss on
the top of her head. She kept talking. Then in about
one minute or less she looked up at me and smiled.
Then she got up and went back upstairs to play.
This showed me the value of a
silent hug. It also showed me that you don't need to
say anything to comfort someone. You don't need to
talk them out of their pain. Just be there for them
and, often, the pain will pass right out of them.