Small Moments

Andrea Delcid, Gift of Mary Missionary

The first time I met Elise, she was crying as she grabbed pancakes and coffee from our day center breakfast bar. I asked her if she needed a hug, and she embraced me. We then finished grabbing her things and went to sit down. As I sat with her in silence, I could see in her eyes that she was replaying the memory of something heavy over and over in her mind. She eventually said, “It’s just too much.” When I asked if she wanted to talk about it, she said no and we continued in silence for a bit.

She slowly opened up about the bad day she was having and I offered some sort of consolation by telling her that the bad days make the good days good. She replied, “You’re right, but it’s hard to believe right now.” Time went on and when she’d stopped crying, she asked me to get some things for her from the pantry. She wanted chicken noodle soup, but I could only find one can. So I grabbed that and a can of cream of chicken, and brought them both to her. “I found this and cream of chicken, but I don’t know what that means.” I genuinely had never heard of cream of chicken, by the way. And she burst out laughing. She looked at me and said, “I needed that laugh.” That loosened her up a bit and we started talking about what she liked, anything else she needed, and how she was feeling.

By the time the day center closed, I asked her if she wanted me to pray with her, and she did. I hugged her again and told her that I loved her. She responded, “I love you too. I’m so glad I sat with you.” The simple moments and interactions in the day center are what keep me motivated to love these women as they are. It is there that I find Jesus looking back at me with the deep and personal love He holds for each of us. It teaches me that the smallest things, like a can of cream of chicken, can have the greatest impact.

February 19, 2026