Just a few short months ago, I lost one of my friends to suicide. I never thought I would lose a friend to suicide. It really is something you never think will happen to you. When I sat at Kyle's funeral, his family kept saying "E.L.E" which I soon found out means "Everybody love everybody." Kyle lived by that saying and was a strong believer of it. It's easy to remember that Kyle lost his battle to depression and anxiety, however I remember him by his saying that he taught me: everybody needs to love everybody.
I have constantly thought about E.L.E since I walked out of the funeral home and what it truly meant. Obviously you aren't going to like everyone you come across and obviously people in this world can just be plain mean. It's such a hard concept to live by, but such an easy saying to say.
I sat in the Dunkin' Donuts line this morning forever. It was just one car ahead of me and I thought I would get in and out of the drive-thru quickly, but I was wrong. After the six minute order, he finally pulled up to the window. I ordered my coffee and proceeded up to the window following him. He had ordered 2 dozen donuts, a few breakfast sandwiches, and multiple drinks. After waiting for four minutes for him to pay and count exact change with what felt like all coins, I waited another five minutes because he kept asking the drive-thru lady for napkins, plates and a bag to put everything in...I mean I was seriously getting so irritated because this man should have walked in instead of forming a line at the drive-thru.
Sitting there in this drive-thru I got all irritated, frustrated, and impatient. The car finally pulled into a parking spot, probably to organize everything, and I pulled up and got my coffee. The drive-thru lady says, "I'm so sorry for the wait. Thanks for being patient" (which I wasn't). The drive-thru lady proceeded to tell me that the man ahead of me had new prosthetic leg and was sore to walk on still. It turns out that the man ahead of me was buying breakfast for his whole entire office employees in thanks for their support on his project. I sat there in awe of this man who was doing something so nice for so many people in his office.
This man lives by E.L.E. This morning, I didn't. It wasn't worth getting all torn up about a damn coffee when a man ahead of me with no legs was getting breakfast for his co-workers. If everybody lived by the man ahead of me in the drive-thru line this morning, think about how much our society and community would change. It's amazing how if you live by everybody love everybody like Kyle did, the world would be a new place.
