Sep 11 2012
Emachiapi: This is Who I Am
Little by little, she started warming up to us. Until one day, we sat together, eating our tacos, stealing trail mix from each other wondering what our next activity would be. I don’t remember exactly how or why it came up but Jade started telling me about her family. An alcoholic father, bedridden mother, jailed brother, the violence, the fear, bouncing around from this aunt’s house to that grandma’s house. “I just want to grow up and get out of here.”
Suddenly everything I ever complained about became insignificant. Complaining about getting up early in the morning. Complaining about not having any more orange juice. Complaining about other people complaining. I realized how sheltered my life had always been. How unaware I was of the things that go on in the world. That here in one of the richest countries in the world, poverty is just as prominent as it can be in a third world country. But here she was, nonchalantly telling me about this like it’s the norm. Smiling, telling me she’s fine, she’ll be okay as she wipes my tears away.
Hope.
Can any of us imagine going through even a quarter of the things she’s experienced without completely giving up? Would you have the strength to persevere through it all even when nothing seems to go your way? Would you remember how to smile?
She did. And from the letters I’ve received from her since, she continues to do so.
Jade. She gives me one more reason to smile every morning when getting out of bed is the last thing I want to do. Hope to dream big when the odds are against me and failure looms that dream. Strength to fight on, when I’m tired and trying no longer seems to make sense. Jade, the little girl at camp Body, Mind, Soul that gave the word emachiapi, a whole new meaning.
“Smiling, telling me she’s fine, she’ll be okay as she wipes my tears away.” Brilliant line since it plays on the irony of her consoling you even though it was Jade that struggled trough these problems. This sentence is also a testimony to how strong of a person Jade is that she persevered through it all and has the courage to tell her story and to move forward. That is why the next word “hope” is so appropriate. It really inspired me when I realized that her dreams and passions kept her going through the tough times. It is a lesson I will carry with me forever.