"Smile, it is the key that fits the lock of everybody's heart." -Anthony J. D'Angelo. A simple smile can be a ray of hope for someone who is hopeless. It even did work for an anorexic girl to fight away her suicidal thoughts. This is a story of a girl named Bekah Georgy from Salem, New Hampshire. She has been plagued with severe anorexia, anxiety and depression for more than half of her life. Though a talented dancer and singer, there is a terribly sad story behind her happy face.
Georgy has been struggling with this eating disorder for 14 years. Initially, she was forced to undergo treatment, but with time she made the choice to 'destroy this demon' within her. The nursing home she is stuck in is negligent. Georgy asked for help in a post for her further treatment and said that the nursing home doesn't understand her pains. She said," They don't understand my chronic illnesses of gastroparesis, POTS, seizures or Ehlers - Danlos syndrome either. And I've been sinking, it seems so even faster lately." Suicidal thoughts are very common in such severe anorexic patients. On one such difficult day, Georgy felt like ending her life. To fight her negative thoughts, she unwillingly decided to get an iced-coffee from Barista. The Starbuck Coffee Cup that she received had the word "smile" written on it. This really cheered Georgy up and made her day.
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Georgy was really touched by that short and sweet 'smile' note on her Starbucks cup. In order to show her appreciation, she wrote a 'thank you' note back to Barista on The Mighty. It began as: “Dear barista, You didn’t know me and you didn’t know my story. Most importantly, you probably didn’t know writing the simple word ‘smile’ on my order would change my day for the better,” Georgy wrote on The Mighty. “When you look at me, you might assume I’m happy, bubbly, outgoing and full of life. But you don’t really see the complete me.”
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Georgy further wrote wondering what may be the Barista employee wrote that "smile" and drew a smiley beside because he or she saw her feeding tube or maybe could see through her "plastered smile". "Either way, I’m grateful,” she said. “You didn’t have to make my order special. You could have treated me like another annoying customer. But you took that extra second to add some positivity to a life that’s been filled with so much negativity lately.” Georgy further wrote that in the past she had tried to commit suicide 5 times. That particular day had been really hard for her. "You were just going about your job, unaware that writing a minuscule word on my drink would change my day and possibly my life.
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In the last part of the note, Georgy wrote, "When my anorexia is bad sometimes coffee is the only thing I can drink. But I was afraid to consume even coffee that day." She said that if she didn't encounter that smile, she could have harmed herself that night as she felt so hopeless. "When I read that word, I couldn’t help but smile, literally. A simple act of kindness can mean the world to someone. It can provide hope for the hopeless. Now I plan to pass this hope along. So barista, thank you. Thank you for turning my day around.”
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