THIS WOMAN
Yesterday I met a woman.
Yesterday I met a woman.
This woman was me in many ways except for the reasons she wasn’t.
She was a woman who had to survive many painful obstacles; prostitution, abandonment, unemployment, living on the streets and many other social ills.
Our struggles may not be the same but our desire to overcome might be.
I saw something in this woman today; a stranger that I have never met before and will probably never meet again.
I saw a fighting spirit.
I saw joy.
Things I thought I had lost in myself but when I looked at her, her yellow-stained eyes reflected it to me.
This woman stood before me with joy on her face, a smile on her lips and hope in her heart.
This woman, like many others, had to sacrifice a part of herself to get through life and to reach this point, where she stood in front of me, with a smile so broad, I can’t help but smile too.
She speaks about the life she use to live without shame and speaks about the life she has now with pride. She embraces every challenge she has had to endure to get to where she is today.
This woman and I don’t share the same skin colour or the same home language.
We don’t share the same economic standing and we don’t have the same job.
We don’t enjoy the same opportunities or possibilities.
We are not the same age or grew up the same way.
But it is exactly those differences that make us the same. We however, do share the same spirit.
The spirit of a warrior woman; one who doesn’t give up.
One who doesn’t have much but still gives.
One who doesn’t know much but shares what she knows.
This woman that I met yesterday;
A mother
A sister
A wife
A friend
A girlfriend
This woman is me.
This woman is you.
-Kimberly Flanagan
