Nash Stories Volume #47

As a doting parent, it’s always a good day whenever your kid calls home from college. So, today, Nash calls me up and says “Dad, I ended up in a situation today, and I wanted to ask your opinion to see if I handled it the right way.” I say “Sure Nash. Shoot…”

Nash goes on to tell me that he was having a conversation with a friend (let’s just call him Billy), when Billy breaks down and starts sobbing inconsolably. Billy then describes to Nash the situation and why he’s crying…

And this is the reason for the phone call and Nash’s explanation to me, “Dad, at first, I didn’t know what to do. Didn’t know what to say. I had no answers. No advice to give… Then, I remembered this from our talks. You’ve always told me to ‘Just Listen. Just Be There.' So that’s what I did.”

Nash continues explaining, “I didn’t tell him that ‘I understand’ or offer some made up advice. And I didn’t tell him a similar story that I had experienced one time... I just sat there and listened to him talk. I told him that I am there for him. And will continue to be there for him if he wants to talk further.”

“So Dad. Did I do OK? Maybe I should have done more.”

At this point, I couldn’t be prouder of my son... I said “Nash, you get an A+. There is no more that you could have reasonably done. In fact, you handled it better than 90 percent of full grown adults would have. Most adults would have started pontificating with lame advice or relate a similar story that shifts the focus onto them and not the person in need. But you played it perfectly. You quickly realized that you could not fix their situation, and that the best thing you could do for them is to “Just Listen. Just Be There. And Be A Friend”

“Dude. A+... You were right there for a friend in need. And that person is the better for it. I could have done No Better than what you did today. Well done Nash. Well done...”

Nash is currently 2 months into his freshman year at Whitman College. And from the looks of it, he seems to be doing just fine…