When I first met her, I had nearly given up on asking for what I needed. Most people were afraid of me, or just didn't know how to connect with me. I couldn't speak I couldn't write clearly. I often said no to things not because I didn't want them, but because no one had taken the time to understand me.

Elena saw me, listened to my eyes, to my gestures, to the things I couldn't say. She never rushed. She took hours in my room, not out of obligation but because she genuinely wanted to make sure I was okay. She didn't treat me like a patient who was difficult, she treated me like a person who had been through too much. I needed someone to stay, she stayed. Even when I couldn't write well, she helped me try to fill this form, I even offered her my gold amber ring, I was that grateful.