Grace

I've been thinking a lot about grace. To me, grace is when someone gives you the gift of kindness, but you did nothing to earn it.

A story about grace:

I met a patient who suffered from schizophrenia. She told me that when she was the sickest, she didn't even recognize her parents and her closest friends. She lashed out at people. She was a mess.

After being in treatment for two years, she returned to the neighborhood in which she grew up. She had thought that people would be terrified of her. She would be forever labelled as the "crazy" person. To her surprise, her neighbors organized a welcome home dinner for her. People hugged her with tears in their eyes. They were so happy to have their friend back.

She said, "Alison, they had so much grace. And I didn't have to do anything to earn it."