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trenchkamenSo, at what is probably one of the lowest moments of my life so far, I think I met an angel.
In the emotional aftermath of a horrible encounter I was sitting outside a classroom at SCC, waiting to see a familiar face and hear a word of encouragement, when a woman hailed me from across the hedges and asked me if I was all right. I said, yes, of course, and she asked me if I had failed a test. I said no, I was a straight-A student. She stepped over the hedge and asked me if I had broken up with my boyfriend. I did not say anything, and that really was not the reason I was so upset at that moment anyway.
The woman clasped my hand. She had an accent I could not place, and bleach-blonde hair held back with a headband. I would place her age somewhere around 45. She said that I had to be strong, that the world is always turning around us, and that there is no time to be sad. I said that there is a time to grieve and a time to be happy, and that she had caught me at a very bad moment. She said that I still had to stand up, wipe my eyes, and be strong.
She said "You would laugh if you heard my story, you would."
I didn't really say anything; I had no idea how to reply. She clasped my hand again and leaned down closer.
"Look, I am Iranian. Twenty-two years ago I left that country, they killed my twenty-two years old brother--a beautiful person, beautiful, and they killed him--and came here to America as a single mom, and put both my kids into Stanford University. I am now a math teacher here. And I found the strength. So be strong. Be happy. Stand up, wipe your eyes, and be strong."
I told her that she was truly a strong woman, and I appreciated her concern. She exuded a strength I have seldom seen in any human being--she was not lying, I could tell that. I was in awe. I felt so pathetic next to her, crying about something so relatively trivial in comparison to the horrors she must have witnessed in her lifetime. I told her that I was strong, that I would always be strong, and she had just caught me at a horrible, low moment.
As I was being approached by the party I was waiting for, she clasped my hands again and asked me to at least wash my face off in the bathroom, and, again, she told me to be strong, and to be happy.
I do not think I will forget her as long as I live. And if I could find her, I would tell her "Thank you".
Urgh. All I really wanted to do last night was go to Denny's. And to the third party that got caught up in something that really was not his problem: I’m sorry. I in absolutely no way planned for things to turn out the way they did.
In the emotional aftermath of a horrible encounter I was sitting outside a classroom at SCC, waiting to see a familiar face and hear a word of encouragement, when a woman hailed me from across the hedges and asked me if I was all right. I said, yes, of course, and she asked me if I had failed a test. I said no, I was a straight-A student. She stepped over the hedge and asked me if I had broken up with my boyfriend. I did not say anything, and that really was not the reason I was so upset at that moment anyway.
The woman clasped my hand. She had an accent I could not place, and bleach-blonde hair held back with a headband. I would place her age somewhere around 45. She said that I had to be strong, that the world is always turning around us, and that there is no time to be sad. I said that there is a time to grieve and a time to be happy, and that she had caught me at a very bad moment. She said that I still had to stand up, wipe my eyes, and be strong.
She said "You would laugh if you heard my story, you would."
I didn't really say anything; I had no idea how to reply. She clasped my hand again and leaned down closer.
"Look, I am Iranian. Twenty-two years ago I left that country, they killed my twenty-two years old brother--a beautiful person, beautiful, and they killed him--and came here to America as a single mom, and put both my kids into Stanford University. I am now a math teacher here. And I found the strength. So be strong. Be happy. Stand up, wipe your eyes, and be strong."
I told her that she was truly a strong woman, and I appreciated her concern. She exuded a strength I have seldom seen in any human being--she was not lying, I could tell that. I was in awe. I felt so pathetic next to her, crying about something so relatively trivial in comparison to the horrors she must have witnessed in her lifetime. I told her that I was strong, that I would always be strong, and she had just caught me at a horrible, low moment.
As I was being approached by the party I was waiting for, she clasped my hands again and asked me to at least wash my face off in the bathroom, and, again, she told me to be strong, and to be happy.
I do not think I will forget her as long as I live. And if I could find her, I would tell her "Thank you".
Urgh. All I really wanted to do last night was go to Denny's. And to the third party that got caught up in something that really was not his problem: I’m sorry. I in absolutely no way planned for things to turn out the way they did.
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(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-16 11:08 pm (UTC)If you can't find her, I suppose the best way to thank her would be to follow her advice, and pass it on. I'm glad you posted this--now I have her words echoing around in my head as well.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-19 07:48 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-16 11:12 pm (UTC)Take her advice.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-19 07:48 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-17 01:45 am (UTC)Anyway. That is grand advice.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-19 07:49 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-17 03:18 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-19 07:50 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-17 01:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-19 07:50 am (UTC)