"Can you accept me..."

I hear her all the way down the hall. She's talking so loudly (but incoherently) she's the only one I hear.

I walk up to her chiar. I put her hand in mine. I say, "Miss Jane, it's Franklin." (I've seen her dozens of times.)

"Who?" she asks.

"Franklin. I wanted you to know I was thinking about you today."

"You were?" she asks. "Why?"

Her question caught me off guard. What do I say? "I was thinking about you because that's my job?" Of course not. So what do I say? I say the only thing I know to say to her question.

"Because I love you."

She's quiet for several seconds, then in the corner of of her left eye, I watch a small tear droplet form.

"You do?" she asks.

"Yes, Ma'am. I do."

Now a lot of loud incoherent words --- something being repeated over and over. I can't make it out, but I do notice her forehead and face. There's a lot of tension there. I stroke her forehead. I lean in close to her face, and ask:

"Miss Jane, can you hear me?"

She's quiet. Finally:

"Yes. I can hear you."

"Miss Jane, I want you to hear what I'm about to say."

"Okay," she says.

"Miss Jane, I want you to relax your forehead," I say as I continue stroking her forehead. "I want you to relax your face. Just let go."

To my amazement, she does exactly that. She relaxes her entire face.

"How does that feel?" I ask.

"Better," she says in return.

Gibberish. Gibberish. Gibberish. I can't make out what she's saying. Face begins to tense again. Forehead all wrinkled up.

"Miss Jane..." I go through the same thing all over again. She relaxes. "That feels better," she says again.

Gibberish. Gibberish. Gibberish..."Accept me."

Gibberish. "Forgive." Gibberish. Gibberish. "Accept me." "Forgive me."

"Miss Jane, I don't need to forgive you. There's nothing to forgive. I love you. I accept you."

"I accept you, too. I love you, too," she responds.

There's so much more going on than we know, or can imagine.

One of my sons calls. I tell him the story. He says, "Daddy, you have amazing things happen to you all the time." We talk a little more. Finally, I say, "You know, you're right. I do have amazing things happen to me all the time. Maybe we all have amazing things happen to us. We just need to pay attention."