Where The Truth Lives.
I was on the phone with my friend not that long ago and she told me a story that brought me to tears. It was the type of story that stays with you and, because of that, I knew I wanted to retell it. Some stories touch me so deeply that I feel like I want to keep them. I do this by re-telling them - by giving them away to others.
Here’s the story: She was 23 years old and married to her first husband. She knew she needed to leave the abusive relationship but she struggled with that choice and so she waited. She waited for things to change and she wanted it to work out so she stayed. This was a heartbreaking time for her as it is for anyone in this situation.
On a day just like today, she was driving in her car and she ran out of gas on the highway. She stepped out of her car and picked up her phone and before she knew it a woman drove up next to her and asked if she needed a ride. She said yes and they drove to the gas station. On the way they talked about a lot of things. One of those things was her current situation with her husband. The woman driving the car asked her why she was staying and refusing to leave. My friend responded that she was staying because she was waiting for things to change. The woman driving the car flipped down the visor mirror on the passenger side, pointed at it and told my friend to look in the mirror and say it again… and so she did. “I’m waiting for things to change”, she said, slowly.
The other thing they talked about was how the woman driving the car wasn’t supposed to be on the road at that time. She said her boss’s mother had passed away and she was on the way to the funeral. The funeral would also mean she wouldn’t be able to attend the event she had a ticket to that afternoon. She asked my friend if she wanted the ticket. The ticket was to see Maya Angelou at a college campus downtown.
If your jaw dropped to the floor, so did my friends because Dr. Angelou was a hero to her. The woman pulled out the ticket and wrote a quote by Maya Angelou on the back before handing it to her. She wrote, “When a person shows you themself the first time, believe them.”
My friend went to that event, sat in the dark in a pew in the back and wept. Maya Angelou took the stage. She didn’t say anything at first. She just stood at the pulpit looking around and then started to sing. “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine………...”
The next day my friend left her husband.
I believe we know. I do. I believe we know what to do. I believe we are so in tune that we suffer sometimes. We know what we need to do in life. Where I think we struggle is in finding the strength to do those things. I believe that life delivers us the people that will show up when we need it the most, to remind us of the power we already have inside. This is where the truth lives.
xo,
Diana