When something happens to someone else and it has happened to you, don't the memories of what has happened just come flooding back?

It could be a good thing or a bad thing. It could be a birth, a wedding, a death, an experience, an accident. It could happen hours apart or years apart. But no matter what it is or how long it has been, it is hard not to compare your experiences to one another.

This happened to me recently. This past month a dear college friend's dad passed away. Mine passed away almost 2 years ago. All of our friends were texting back and forth keeping each other in the loop of what was happening and how we could support our friend. While all of this was going on, it was hard to not have the feelings that I felt on the day that I heard that my dad had gone to Heaven. I knew what my friend was going through. I know what she's going to be experiencing. We are now a part of the same community that no one wants to be a part of. I know that there are no words or nothing that we could truly do to bring back that dear person.

I've also had someone tell me that they know what I am going through. About 5 years ago, I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease, an autoimmune disease of the digestive system. I thought that my 'normal' life was over. As I sat in the infusion room, a woman reached out her hand to me and told me that everything would be okay. She began to tell me her story of struggling with Crohn's and how she has been able to have a 'normal' life including having babies of her own and owning her own dance studio. We don't talk every day but we reach out to each other for advice and well wishes as we both know what the other is going through.

I also started a new job a year ago! It was the job that I had been hoping for. As my first year started to come and go, I experienced highs and lows. Everyone around me knew what was happening and helped me through it all. And I am now the one helping my new colleagues through the highs and lows!

When something good or bad happens to you, always remember that there is someone out there that has been through what you've been through