College was a stressful, lonely time for me, mainly because of financial worries.  I never knew if I would have enough money to cover the next quarter’s payments…or rent…or food.  In fact, I was on the UCLA crew team (the rowing team, for those of you not familiar with that term), which consisted of three- to four-hour workouts a day, and I was subsisting on spaghetti and corn (they were cheap).  I wasted away, of course, but there was nothing to be done about it.  You do what you have to do.

In addition, I was far enough away from home that I couldn’t pop home in a jiffy.  I had moved from a noisy dorm room into a quiet apartment that I shared with one roommate.  It was eerily quiet.

I was attending my math classes (I was a math major then)…and not understanding a word my professors were saying.  It was a little like going to a foreign country and sitting among the natives.

And then.

I received a package in the mail from a friend–a box of salt water taffy and note that said something along the lines of, “I’m thinking about you.”

Can I just say that I sat there and bawled?  To think someone loved me.  To think someone cared about me.  To think I wasn’t alone.

Maybe my response was a little overboard, but since then, I’ve tried to think of ways to do the same to others.  It could be a full-time job.  Seriously.  There are so many people hurting…struggling…aching…

So, today, I thought I’d share my story, so that perhaps you might look around you today and think, “What is one thing I can do today, to show someone I care?”

Go for it.  You could change someone’s life.

A box of salt water taffy changed mine.