Being Carried: A Story of Care and Self-Care 🌟 · The Public Speaking Community🔥

Jun '25 • General

Being Carried: A Story of Care and Self-Care 🌟

Picture this: a chilly autumn morning in the ‘90s, Van Zwanenbergsingel, Oss. The doorbell screeches, fists pound on the door. My heart skips a beat. What’s happening? I bolt outside, chasing a panicked man. Across the tracks, I spot a BMW station wagon, spun backward, its left front wheel crushed so far into the chassis it’s nearly kissing the cabin. A woman, dazed, blood trickling from her forehead, her head slumped against a cracked windshield. 🚗💥

I kneel beside her. Her voice is faint, but her words cut deep: a mom, married to a realtor, with a little boy and girl. She manages a weak smile talking about them, her eyes desperate for hope. The stench of diesel hangs heavy—“I just filled the tank,” she murmurs repeatedly. My mind flashes to a bus trip in France years before, a burning car with occupants, helpless onlookers waving in despair. That fear fuels me: this woman must be safe. 🚨

Care, care, care. Always for others. I was taught my needs could wait. But where was I in all this? It took three personal crashes—years later—to wake me up to self-care. Seven years ago, I began to learn I, too, could be carried. 💪❤️

Last Sunday, in the clear, cool waters of the river IJssel near Zutphen, I felt it. My love asked, “Are you standing? I want to wrap my legs around you.” A warm, intimate embrace followed, her closeness a gift. We lounged on the shore, ate, drank, then waded back in. “Come here,” she said, “your turn.” I swam to her, arms around her neck, legs around her waist, head nestled in her shoulder. “Now I’m carrying you,” she whispered. It felt strange, not standing on my own. But then my chest softened, my heart opened. “Wow,” she said, “I feel your heart melting. Is that right?” Yes, it was. Being carried is coming home. 🏊‍♂️💖

Care isn’t just for others. Care is for you, too. Care is letting yourself be carried. Let’s hold that close. 🙏

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After reading this. How does it affect you? How would you recommend to classify this in my story index.

BTW, as always, it's a true biographical story

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