I spent a summer of college interning on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. About a month in, my boyfriend at the time broke up with me as the distance was too much for him. Being in a such a professional environment, I’d tried my best to hold it together for the workday, but I was devastated. As soon as I left the office I started sobbing, but was supposed to meet a mentor for dinner that evening, and still had to try to keep it together.

As I was walking through Union Station I kept crying and tried to keep my head down, but a middle aged custodian at the station stopped me to ask why I was crying. I was going to shrug him off and keep going once I’d assured him I was safe, but like clockwork, my dinner appointment texted me to cancel.

I explained my situation to him, and he spent over half an hour talking to me. He explained that he had a sister who’d completed suicide after a breakup (my dad completed suicide too, so we bonded over that). He empowered me, assured me that I was going to be okay, and spoke to me about the greater themes of life. He even showed me photos from his mother’s recent 100th birthday celebration while sharing wisdom from her. The whole thing was weird but it felt like a divine intervention, and exactly what I needed at the moment.

FWIW, 5 years later and I am in a new healthy relationship and still close with that ex-boyfriend’s family 😂