Truly kind

I suffer from chronic suicidal depression, and in 1998 I had to be hospitalized three times after my girlfriend suddenly and unexpectedly left me. The second of these hospitalizations was a rapidly escalating emergency, and I just went to the nearest hospital and checked myself in. Soon after I came on the ward, another patient took it upon himself to show me the ropes. He told me such things as where I could get snacks late in the evening (as I had arrived after dinner) and which nurses, orderlies, and other patients were friendly, and who should be avoided. After his little orientation tour he asked me "Do you want to meet Richard Gere? He's in my room. Come on!" The guy was obviously manic. I knew he was delusional, but he had been so kind to me I thought I'd humor him, so I went along with it. He led me to his room, and showed me a door inside that connected to the next room, saying "He's in there. Go ahead, knock on the door." I hesitated, not wanting to disturb the patient in the next room. So my new friend knocked. Seconds later the door opened and, flabbergasted, I was standing face-to-face with Richard Gere. I muttered something like "Hello Mr. Gere..." He smiled, and said "Hello!", and I think I shut the door on him in shock and embarrassment, and walked away. That hospital was sort of a hellhole and I got my doctor to get me out the next day, but a few days later I was admitted to another, third, hospital for what was to be six-week stay. The very next day, Mr. Gere showed up to visit another patient there who was one of his friends, the same man Gere had been visiting a few weeks before in hospital hell. Due to his celebrity status the hospital permitted Gere to visit outside of normal visiting hours, so he would not have to deal with attention from other visitors. He came by in the evenings every three or four days to visit his friend, and would stay about three hours, usually first visiting his friend in private, and then he and his friend would come by the TV lounge and hang out with us. I remember one surreal incident when a Gere was appearing in a TV show which was on in the lounge while he was visiting. He came into the lounge towards the end and poked fun at his performance for just a minute or two as it ended. I pretty much left him alone, as I have some friends who are famous and I can imagine how exhausting it could be to constantly be the object of random attention from people who you don't know. But Gere was kind and considerate, and even invited a few of the patients who were big fans to visit him at his Pound Ridge home. I did have one interaction with him that was noteworthy. I was pretty distraught and was bawling my eyes out as Gere happened to pass by. He stopped, put his hand on his shoulder, looked me in the eye and said something like "I don't know why you're in so much pain, but I can promise you it's not going to hurt like this forever." It wasn't creepy or condescending, it was truly kind and loving, and genuinely heartfelt. I later learned that Gere was in the midst of shooting not one but two films on locations in Europe, and was flying back and forth every few days just so he could visit his friend.