The hope of Hope.
I have hopes.
Hopes of becoming a successful business woman.
Hopes of being remembered for something good when I leave.
Hopes of finally getting all my laundry done.
Hopes of eating a hundred dinners at Eh-net’s house.
Hopes of feeling peace when I lay down at night.
Hopes that my family, friends and staff know how much I need them.
Hopes that someone, somewhere, thinks my muscles are huge.
Hopes that I’m living this life right.
I have hopes too, for kids who have walked in and on and out of my pathway.
I have hopes for this one kid in particular.
I went to court today. No, not because of something I did that was anti-law. C’mon, now! That was AGES ago…
Ha.
I went to court for a kid.
I went to court to fight for something I believe in.
Hope.
I got arrested once. It was in Orlando and I was 20. I got arrested with my boyfriend who decided it’d be a good idea to open a beer outside a club downtown. I was incarcerated for 3 hours. The longest 3 hours of my life.
I was so frightened and powerless.
Guess who came to get me?
Nobody.
A misdemeanor city ordinance violation that is long gone from my history. But not gone from my memory.
No one had hope for me.
I had no hope for me.
Fast forward twenty some years…
Hope’s arrested.
But that same feeling of fear came hauntingly back to me. I was scared for her. Twenty years later and I could still feel the fear. Vivid and tangible.
The difference is that I came to get her.
I showed up. I stood up.
She’s me. I’m her.
Kids need hope. Kids need a saviour. Kids need someone to believe in.
And 20 years later, I get to be believed in.
Just a day in this kid’s life to her.
But to me, the chapter can close. It’s come full circle round.
I hope that Hope stays on my path for a long, long time. I hate to miss these kids when they leave.
But it’s all good. Because now when she tells her story, she won’t have to say that nobody cared, that nobody showed up for her.
This is Hope. At its finest, glorious hour.
Audrey said:
on April 19, 2007 at 10:55 pm
I think there is always a reason as to why we have the people in our lives that we do… We all learn from and mirror each other. I can only hope to have the courage to do for someone else what you did today… Only one word comes to mind…Brave!
Lu said:
on April 20, 2007 at 9:49 pm
The only way we can ever change this world is to lead by example. Walk the walk…do what we would have others do for us. The people that mentored me in my life are significant. In a lifetime of bad memories, they are part of the few good ones. A teacher who believed I was a good writer.A friend of my mother’s who affirmed me and bought me pearls for my high school graduation. A college professor who thought I could have a meaningful career as a journalist if I just wouldn’t throw my career away by getting married. A female boss who made me a supervisor and then tried to teach me how to be one. There have been others. How wonderful, Deedle, that some day when this young woman looks back on her life, you will be remembered as a “good memory”. Someone that was there.Stood up and was counted next to her. Hope of being remembered for something good when you leave. You will be! No doubt. I know the courage it took for you to go to court yesterday. Good for you!
Deedle said:
on April 23, 2007 at 6:42 pm
Thanks, y’all.
I appreciate your affirmations, posted and not.