Stranger leaves heartfelt note for veteran who lost brother to PTSD

Writer: Jack Lowenstein
Published: Updated:
Credit: WINK News.

A little kindness can go a long way. And for a woman, a stranger’s act of kindness meant the world to her. Now, she wants to thank a man who showed her and her brother a simple kindness.

Lauren Osborne is a retired Florida Highway Patrol officer and a U.S. Air Force veteran. Osborne lost her brother to PTSD after he served in the U.S Marines Corp.

Osborne drives around with a special decal on her car that memorializes her brother’s life. She also just so happens to have a dash cam that captured a man share his sentiments with her.

“There’s no way that I could really thank him for what he did,” Osborne said. “It was really sweet.”

Osborne’s camera recorded the moment a man left a note on her car’s windshield.

“Sorry about your brother,” the stranger’s note read. “May God bless him. He was part of a great brotherhood.”

Osborne said she had to take the time to appreciate the message left especially for her and her brother.

“I received this note,” Osborne said. “I was actually taken aback a little bit. I had to sit in my car and read it.”

Osborne’s brother served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Osborne said he experienced the unimaginable while he was overseas.

“One of the hardest things I ever probably will go through in my entire life,” Osborne said. “My brother, a U.S. Marine for five years, he was a sergeant when he discharged at the end of 2010. He became incredibly withdrawn.”

Osborne said when her brother returned home he could not bring himself to get help.

“It was almost like a sign of weakness to show that he needed help,” Osborne said. “And he didn’t know how to reach out for that like it was just embarrassing for him.”

Osborne said, in the end, he really needed it.

Come September 2014, Osborne’s unconventionally humored, quick-witted younger brother was gone.

Osborne said receiving the note from a stranger reminds her there is support, and there is no shame in seeking help.

Osborne said she wants the author of the note to know she is thankful for the random act of kindness. She said she will soldier on and hopes veterans struggling after their tour of duty will too.

“No one’s really left a note like this on my vehicle before to make sure I saw it,” Osborne said. “And it was touching.”

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