“What makes her stand out so?”
People ask that about her constantly every time they see her. She has a capability to melt a room just by walking in.
It isn’t the fact that she exhales this rare beauty. No, that’s not it. It isn’t the way she acknowledges every single person sitting in the room with a bright smile and a charismatic hello. No, that’s not it. It isn’t the way she walks with confidence even when going into situations she’s unfamiliar with. No, that’s not it either. Could it be the way she makes witty jokes? No that can’t be it.
Maybe it’s the way she makes you feel like the most important person in the world when she talks to you, or the way she compliments how well the color of your shirt matches your eyes, or the way she notices your new haircut, or maybe even the way she makes everything feel so simple and lighter than air.
“What makes her stand out so?”
If you ask her, she won’t refer to her beauty. She won’t refer to her pain filled past, more pain than any 23 year old should ever have encountered so young. She won’t refer to how incredibly intelligent and witty she is.
“What makes you stand out so?” I ask her.
She’ll giggle, tell me my new glasses look great, look at me like I’m the only other person that exists in her world at the moment. Then, she’ll tell me that she’s just like me. Just like you. She’ll say she loves life and everything in it.
Everything.
I ask her what “everything” means to her. She tells me it’s the colors, the sounds, the way the rain falls, the manner in which the trees change through the seasons, the gentle touch of the wind on her skin, the random act of kindness from the cashier at the gas station who gave her the six cents to pay for the rest of her water so that she didn’t have to break a whole ten.
I can’t stop myself, “what about the pain?”
Without hesitation, she smiles. “Pain is so often misclassified as ugliness. The thing is that pain can sometimes hold the most beauty of all. It is through pain that we learn some of the most valuable lessons.”
“What about all of your pain? Don’t you think it’s unfair that other people your age haven’t encountered half the pain you have?” I can’t stop the words from rolling out of my mouth.
And again, with no hesitation, the gentle look of her smile remains unphased.
“Pain is the reason I love life. Pain is the reason I smile. Pain has taught me to appreciate things that other people take for granted. Pain has been my best friend through happiness and loneliness. Pain has never kept me in the dark about its intentions. Pain has never lied to me. Pain has never hidden itself from me. Pain is one of the most honest things in this world. And isn’t honesty one of the things we all want most in life?”
How can she do that? How can she speak that way about the thing that has made her cry so many nights? How can she only think about the rainbow that follows after the storm? She remains a mystery. I can’t fathom her outlook. I can’t figure her smile out. I don’t know who she is, all I know is that this girl will forever be a survivor.
belindamillan12 