Privilege translated

Some of you know that I volunteer as a Parent to Parent Mentor/Family Advisor at the Children's Hospital. It is a way for me to take what I have learned and experienced over the years of dealing with Elizabeth's health and use it for good.
I have the privilege of being with families when they are at their most vulnerable and most times, their weakest. I say it is a privilege because I am given access into the lives of the patients/families as they express their emotions and thoughts amidst their frustrations and fears. I walk in to a hospital room as a stranger and in many cases I end up sitting face to face with a parent who is crying. Or I end up holding the hand of a mother who just needs comfort as she struggles to carry the weight of her world on her shoulders, during her child's illness. How often does that happen in daily life? Not often.
Today I met with a mom who at first appeared so stoic and calm. She literally collapsed in tears within 10 minutes of sharing her story. I cannot express to you how it feels to watch another mother cry out, wail in tears, over her child. Her husband later told me "My wife is overwhelmed because she has only been in this country for 3 years. She is not used to the American ways or hospitals!" I had to bite my tongue, as I wanted to shake him and say "No, your wife is overwhelmed because your son has a devastating (new)diagnosis and it wouldn't matter what country she was in, she would still feel this overwhelming and horrible sadness!" She spoke a language that all mothers can understand. It is a language of raw heartache and desperation.... and as she spoke through her tears in her thick accent and struggled for the correct translation, I told her that. I understood every word.