This young woman had, overcome the most difficult of ALL obstacles in her young life, and shone through! From the Front Page Sections, translated…
“Jia-Wen is going to put on an art show, can you come?”, my friend inquired on the phones. As she’d told me, her young face came into my mind right away.
That was after last summer, my friend came to visit me from Taipei, and took along a young girl, said that she’d brought her there, to hear me tell the stories. The young girl’s shy face made me feel nurturing toward her. My friend told me in private, that when she was just ten, the earthquake of September 21st came, she’d lost ALL members of her family, both her parents, her older sister and younger brother, she and her second eldest sister were the sole survivors, but, she’d had an amputation to save her life after she was pulled from the rubbles.
My friend went to help out with volunteer in the areas hardest hit by the earthquake and started sponsoring her, and ever since, she’d treated her as she was her family. Last year, she’d taken her to hear me tell stories, hoping it can give her the positive energies she’s in need of in her life. This time, the child had an art show in Caotun, and, my friend made her way especially to give her support.
That day, I’d arrived first, the artwork weren’t framed at all, just simply, plastered onto the cardboards, but, there was a story that came with each and every piece, I saw a piece labeled “Dreams”, with the simple brown square shapes, split into two parts, like a building that’s collapsed, a girl sitting atop of one of the two buildings, it’d showed her dreams of rebuilding her home again. I’m guessing, that she’s trying to show, that she’s, working hard, to get out from the traumas that the earthquake had impacted upon her? Or maybe, she’s, sitting on the collapsed building, remembering the lost loved ones, hoping that they can visit her in her dreams?
As I was guessing what she meant, Jia-Wen quietly snuck up next to me, and started telling me the stories behind each and every one of her work of art. She’d loved drawing children, because that, was the happiest time in her life, and I’m thinking, that it was this energy, that’s made her into a survivor.
“Principal, look at the seasons, from the autumn and winter, the leaves are all gone, to the spring and summertime, the leaves grow back green, nature uses a multitude of ways, to teach us, NOT to give up. This person under the tree, is trying hard, to break away from the huge box, she’d crawled out, wanted to rid herself of the shadows, but, she’d found, that no matter how hard she’d tried, the shadows will always be there, so, she’d stopped hiding, and, embraced the shadows, and, that, is when the sun came through from the other side.”
I held her close to me, said, “You’re so amazing, you’d, brought the sunshine to us.”
After the show, I’d treated them to supper, my friend asked her if she’s doing okay? She’d smiled and told, that she’d found a job, that it was at a fried dumpling roadside stand; I’d not felt comfortable stating to her, would your legs give you any troubles having to stand that long, I’d just asked her lightly, “Are you okay?”
She’d told me that the owner treated her very well, that although it was just a small stand by the side of the roads, he’d given her a work uniform, “How I loved wearing the uniforms! Felt like I’m working in an office, making the buns by hand, it’s, a form of art in itself too…”, she’d kept chiming on excitedly.
I’d gone to that shop to buy before, located right next to the busy streets, the environment was very uncomfortable, making the customers want to run far from it, and, the owner of the stand feared the customers were waiting too long, he’d wore that facial expression of tenseness about him. I thought, that no one ordinary can work in such a condition like that, I’d felt impressed by them. And now, as Jia-Wen told me, the picture inside of my mind of getting flustered changed, it’s, as if, I could see Jia-Wen in her uniform, like she’s concentrating on painting, it’s just, that the paint she used now became the skins of the buns and the fillings, and, in moments time, those cute dumplings sat still, on those steel plates.
Thinking about, how many around me, were complaining on how hard a good job is to find? How many had, used the excuse of the downturn in economy, and became a leech?
But, this young woman who’d lost her family because of a natural disaster, as she was having a hard time, getting out from the darkness, she’d chosen to, coexist with the shadows in her life, then, allowing the sun, to shine through from the opposite side. She’d used her life, to make herself into a light, inspired us, to find our own hopes and confidences back again!
So, this, is the triumph of this young woman who’d been hit hard by a disaster, and, instead of allowing what hit her to beat her down, she’d used the trials that’s happened in her life, to shine even brighter than she had before, this, is the amazing spirits of this young woman, and other than standing back up, she’d also helped others find hope in their lives as well.