Last night on my way home from Kinky Boots I stopped in at a very lovely local bar…great ambience, quiet, beautiful decor. The bar person was an attractive young Hispanic woman with olive skin and light eyes. Soon we were the only ones at the bar. Our bar talk/patter weaved through the typical topics- How long have you been working here (it was here first week)…where do you live (Williamsburg)….She was well spoken and had an outgoing personality- perfect social comportment. When we got to the the topic of family she told me that she lives with her grandparents and takes care of them, as they are getting older. When I asked about her siblings her eyes turned down. She told me that there had been a tragedy I was hesitant to ask, but did…Her mother remarried and had 2 children with a man from the Dominican Republic. They moved to Georgia. One day in a psychotic fit he killed the two youngest children (11 and 12) and then himself. Her mother, understandably has never been the same- one of the reasons that she lives with her grandparents. I asked her when did this horrendous episode occur….January of this year. I was stunned. Here was this composed, beautiful and affable woman (who was a former Miss Brooklyn in a beauty pageant, and competed for Miss New York,) who was working and enjoying her life while dealing with this unspeakably tragic event. She told me that she has good days and bad days but that she still has her life to live. She loves traveling to exotic places and was saving up for a trip to Viet Nam. When I asked who was going with her she said Anyone who wants to. She then said she has a very long bucket list of things to do and places to see. What impressed me most about her is that despite her circumstances and experiences, her spirit is free. Free from her past, her parents, the murders, the suicide. Free to help her grandparents. Free to dream of the future, and not afraid to live and replace the horror with beauty. Our chance meeting was an inspiration.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 14:18:09 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015