Scratches on a wall

I live on the third floor of an apartment building with a particularly slow elevator, but also a particularly hot stairwell. This means that when it's very hot, or I'm very tired, or I'm carrying something heavy, I get to spend some time in the elevator as it creeps up two floors.

There are things scratched into the paint on the inside of this old elevator's doors. I've never paid too much attention to just what-- initials carved with the end of keys or who knows what, scratches from the feet of various furniture packed into the tiny space, and the like. Yesterday, after a very long and tiring day of work, as I stood in this elevator waiting to reach my final destination, I saw one scrawl that struck me as particularly poignant and intriguing, however: "I miss my mom."

Who took the time to scratch this phrase into the elevator door? A college student away from home for the first time? A young professional, overwhelmed by the demands of life and wishing for a simpler time when someone else packed their PB&J for lunch? Or, more tragically, someone whose mother is no longer around? I found myself wishing the best for the elevator graffiti's author, and hoping that he or she was able to see their mom soon, if that was a possibility.

Today was another long day. Another long walk home, through much DNC madness still occurring downtown. So once again, I found myself in the elevator. I looked back to the scribble on the wall. It was then that I noticed-- not once, not twice, but over and over the same phrase was scratched into the door: "I miss my mom."

Were they carved in one day, on someone's even longer trip up to the fourth floor? It seems unlikely, as even this elevator isn't that slow. Was each phrase added one day after the next? Were they even written by the same person, or by others echoing the original sentiment? It's impossible to know. But I feel like I want to give the scrawler a hug. So I hope someone else is.

(There was a nice woman giving out free hugs on the 16th street mall today. I got one. It made me smile. Maybe I should write that on the elevator wall.)