Helen, that is a very very moving response. It says so much about you ... that I find uplifitng... we are strangers to one another but you took those events and reflected on them, and you took the time and energy to write this poetic prose....

Having got quite put off/bored/disgusted by quite a lot of people, you. have done the most healing thing a stranger could do... give me a glimpse of a beautiful, caring soul. Your sincerity shines out, along with your humanity.

It is a great achievement to have all those capacities intact, despite the hardships every life encounters. Bravo!