Dating : Ms. Lee

Photo by PRATAP CHHETRI on Unsplash

At age 65, Ms. Lee’s spine was curve like a “C”, so much so that when she stood up her face looked down at her feet, her broad swollen feet. When she was fifteen, she stood tall as a tower. At that time, her body’s posture was in stark contrast to her spirit, which cowered and stooped, well beneath her magnificent 6 foot tall frame.

Even though it was not visible, she was already shouldering the weight of expectations that she could not meet. She was carrying the wounds of the barbs, hisses, and outright animosity, hurled at her for physically straying from soft petite womanhood. So, like her feet in her narrow size-9 shoes, she squeezed herself into a mental space that isolated her from the boos, the hisses, the ignorance, and the outright hate. But in doing this, she also locked the pain inside.

Ms. Lee’s inner spirit wilted, day after day, month after month, and year after year. No one, not family, friend, nor foe, unlocked the door to rescue her. As time passed by, in a sad but perfect harmonization, Mr. Lee’s spine and spirit coalesced into the downtrodden “C”.

Years after the spirit and the body were broken, would-be rescuers arrived as if out of nowhere. They said, “Ms. Lee. You were so tall, majestic, and beautiful, why did you cower? Why did you slouch? Why didn’t you just stand tall?”

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