quien fuera encantador?
I guess I don't really know what I'm supposed to say except that I am pretty messed up in the head. I mean, I want to help my starving children in third world countries, yet I think Nicole Richie is the epitome of a beautiful woman. I hate the corporate world, yet I just purchased a new Apple Macbook and am dying for the Chanel 2.55 handbag. I am absolutely against getting married or having kids, yet I think that family (not necessarily blood) is the only thing that can ever make me happy.
There is one person in the world I admire with all my heart and that is my Tia Blanca, Mi tía Blancita is literally the most amazing person I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. I absolutely love her with all my heart, my tiny heart compared to her.
You see, she has the most enormous, blind, kind, wonderful heart a human ever had.
Unfortunately, life has not treated her kindly. It has given her ungrateful children, selfish sisters, uncaring nieces and even more uncaring nieces' daughters.
On top of that she has the most terrible financial situation ever. Her house is smack dab in the middle of South Central Los Angeles aka 'the ghetto'. Her house is filled with people who like to take advantage of her. They pay her about 10% of what they should be paying her for rent and bills. They screw her over and over.
To make matters worse, she takes care of about two mentally unstable nephews who have gotten her into so much trouble.
And yet she is one of the happiest, kindest, most amazing people all the time.
Every time we go visit her, she cooks us a feast because she is an amazing cook.
She caters to our every need, making sure we feel somewhat comfortable in her household and every time we say goodbye she slips me $40 and tells me that she's proud of me. I always feel extremely guilty taking the money, but she always tells me that she would be offended if I didn't.
When I was six, I announced to my whole family that I wanted to be a doctor. And while most of my family laughed at such ridiculousness, she slaved away for days on the sewing machine making me the most beautiful doctor coat with Dr. Meli [& my last name] engraved on the left hand chest. She always believed in and supported me.
She is a devout Christian lady, more so than anyone I've ever met in my life.
The reason I say this is because she takes in Jesus' lessons to heart and puts them to practice everyday. Her sister (my grandmother) is quite wealthy, but like any other wealthy woman, she tends to whine about how she has no money. Every single time my poor, kind-hearted aunt writes my selfish wealthy grandmother a check. I despise her so much for taking advantage of my lovely aunt.
So I ask myself, how does such a kind woman have such a tragic life?
I mean, she does absolutely everything right, she is kind and has no rancor.
Is that not the ideal person? Furthermore, does she not deserve the riches of world?
The answer is yes. however as I got to thinking about her unfair fate I thought about something else.
Why is she happy despite all her misfortune? Why does she help those who continually screw her over? Why does she insist in trusting and revering a G_d who has never helped alleviate her burden, like she so deserves?
It suddenly hit me, something that I have always known.
Just as I dream of helping the children of the third worlds and expect absolutely nothing in return, she expects nothing.
What she does is the purest form of anything, because she does it from the heart.
Additionally, being able to offer her kindness to us all is her reward, that is what our almighty G_d has given her.
You see, her success is not measured by number of degrees or exclusive houses
her riches are not measured in capitalistic terms, they are measured in the way she impacts us few who recognize her greatness.
She does not do it for that, she does it because Jesus once said, 'Treat others like you would like to be treated'. She is the exception to Gandhi's infamous perception of Christians: "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ."
She is like Christ; she follows his lessons every day.
One day I hope to be able to help her like she has helped so many others; I hope to give her some of capitalism's measures of success as well as any type of help she ever needs. However, I know she'll always be content with her shabby house in South Central full of crazy people. That's just how she is. And if I could have at least 10% of the kindness of her heart and faith in her soul, then I know I would be set for life.
Please dear G-d, let me be like her; let me live and love like she does.
-melidee
