I think my depression hit its highest peak while I was in college. I would get up in the middle of the night and walk to the bridge and stare at the water sometimes. I don't know if I was ever actually going to jump, but I always thought about it.

One night at around 3 AM, I was standing there. I was contemplating it, even had my phone in hand ready to send a goodbye text to my sister. But then a woman, maybe mid-forties, walked up to me and started telling me about her dog. How she loved her dog so much. A mutt she'd gotten from her brother. We ended up talking until the sun started to come up, about life, about our favorite kind of tea, Star Wars, our current problems, random things. She talked to me like she'd known me for years, and I really felt like I'd known her for years, which was so so strange because social anxiety has always been a huge issue for me.

Finally, I told her that I needed to be getting back to my dorm to get ready for classes that day. She handed me a piece of paper then simply said, "Be good." before walking away. I opened the paper and it was a little scribbly drawing of a dog. I don't think I'd be alive right now if that woman hadn't taken the time to talk to me. To listen to me.

Also something I accept as a complete coincidence, but the "Be good" thing almost made me cry. That night was exactly a year after my dad had passed and I was feeling especially down because of it. It was something my dad always said to me whenever I left the house, even after I'd moved out of the house. It was one of the last things he said to me before he passed. The drawing of the dog even somewhat resembled the dog I had when I was a little kid. Even the black fur covering half of his face.