Have you ever experienced being completely stunned by a total stranger’s life?  Perhaps something you’ve read about online, or an update about an acquaintance in your homeschool group?  Maybe even a newspaper article regarding a family halfway across the country. The funny thing is, you can learn things about yourself through the experiences of virtual strangers. Certain points, knowledge, or issues that need to be worked through can come up, and their lives can virtually impact yours forever.

In my situation, there are a handful of situations I’ve read about online, or heard from “a friend of a friend” that force me to feel such a profound empathy, I’m helpless to do much other than send up a prayer.  Even with that, however, my heart is touched forever, and I find a new appreciation in my heart… if I’m really on my toes, a new understanding for a different situation that I hadn’t thought about before.

Witness the most profound example that I have ever experienced.  The story is simple; I read of this woman through an online group of forums for infertility issues.  I was communicating about parenting after infertility. She was communicating on a babies due board.  She was pregnant with her second child, following four years of trying to conceive. Everything went swimmingly well, until they checked in to deliver… the baby was born stillborn, due to a cord accident. 

She is a professional photographer, and involved with a non-profit group that goes in to a hospital when requested, to take photographs for special memory videos or slideshows for the parents – all free of charge. This wonderfully giving woman found herself in the position of grieving parent, and requested a photographer to come in and memorialize her own precious baby boy.

The slide show is profound.  The grief is tangible. The love is evident. Through it all, your heart soars out to them, but you recognize that we truly are all trying to make our way in the world, with love to guide us. I have watched the clip twice, and been reduced to a blubbering idiot. After composing myself, however, I have found an intense need to hug my son, cuddle up over a good book, and pray to god that those suffering intense grief find peace of heart and strength of soul to get through their pain.

What have I learned?  A LOT about grief.  I had experiences my own miscarriages after the birth of our son (twins, and a singleton between the 8 and 10 week mark), and had somewhat of an understanding of the pain of loss... but this virtual stranger has taught me the incredibly simple concept of " grief just is.... you can't manage a feeling without experiencing it first.."  More importantly, that although some doctors never discuss the importance, there are some things you can do to help monitor cord issues - kick counting, for example.  Or the fact that a sudden increase in activity, or decrease towards the end of the pregnancy can be an issue, and should be paid attention to.

Has the life of a virtual stranger ever impacted you? Has a newspaper story ever hit so close to home that you sit, stunned while trying to process it? Is it a sign of our electronic times that we can be impacted like this? I think that it's fantastic to have resources to reach out for in online communities, via search engines, etc.  It allows us to extend our community throughout the world. Your thoughts?