Dear Owls,
Many times, it's been proven that those who come to my rescue are people I've been ignoring my whole life. A simple conversation with a stranger I judged turns into a good friendship with someone. Sometimes, we are too quick to judge people, we forget that they deal with their problems in a different way. A very good example would be my encounter with a girl in a Book Fest, around the month of April. At first, I thought she laughed a little too much at everybody's joke. Especially the boys'. And so, being a girl, I wasn't too slow to give her the weirdest looks and my imagination went wild.
"Wow, have her parents not raised her well?"
"Does she not know how to contain herself?"
"Is there something wrong with her hormones?"
My thoughts were kept to myself until the girl came and sat next to me. She smiled and said, "That boy is such an idiot." I smiled back and asked her how long she's known him for. She told me she just met him, just like I did. So, I couldn't not say anything. I looked at my bag and remarked, "You laughed too comfortably with him, so I assumed you knew him longer."
And just like that, I turned into those girls I swore I'd never become. She laughed once more and said that she loved laughing.
Later on in our conversation, my mother called and told me to get home because she needed me. I wasn't prepared to go home alone and we found out that we both live in the same area. She noticed that I wasn't ready to be alone and offered to take a Taxi together. I loved that suggestion because at that time, I was going through some stuff and I avoided being alone as much as possible.
In the car ride, we talked... as all girls do. And I found out that her father had passed away less than 2 months ago! I immediately hated myself for thinking all those thoughts. I loved her energy and bravery. She was laughing off the pain every step of the way, and I mistook it for a behavior deficit. My stomach turned and I spent the whole ride listening to her grieve.
She had been really close to her dad and he was really healthy. He died of a heart attack and she was expecting everything but that. She told me she had to be strong for her mother who was practically falling apart. Her story, like many others, had inspired me insanely.
It also taught me to be more open with strangers, get to know them and understand more about their stories. Anyone is willing to talk about themselves, the trick is to know how to get them to start. Everyone that passes by us smiling, is most probably tearing up on the inside. After all, this world is a masquerade and we're all wearing our finest masks.
To anyone who's reading, I hope you take the best out of this. If this girl happens to read this too and recognizes it's her, thank you. You gave me a piece of the puzzle that helped me get through an emotional time in my life. Many aspects influenced my rise after a great fall and your encounter is something I value. It was short, simple and needed. I wish you all the best. And this just became a letter inside a letter.
Yours always owls,
Me.
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