Hope Embodied

  ‘So, who wants so speak first?’ I ask.

  ‘It’s not like that,’ Ina says.

  

  Curious, ‘What then, is it like?’

  Leveling me in her sights, Estelle's glare stops me short.  I hold my breath and wait.

  ‘Now you know what I feel like,’ Ina whispers to me.

  ‘Come on, Estelle.  Give her a break,’ says Hazel, a little surprised by her chutzpah.

  ‘So much rancor,’ states Rita, undaunted by Estelle.  ‘Let’s tone it down a bit.  Tell me, Estelle, what do you want to say?’

  Pausing, surprised to be asked her thoughts, Estelle slips momentarily into reverie.  We wait.

  ‘I was once a child, you know, a hundred years ago,’ she starts.

  Martha now standing next to Estelle, ‘What happened dear?’

  A tear fills the deep furrows in her cheek, Estelle says quietly, ‘Loveworthy.  Loveworthy happened.’ 

  

  Puzzled, Hazel asks, ‘But weren’t you an old woman when you knew her?  I’m confused.’

  Estelle now far away, ‘Yes, I was a child and an old woman.  You see, Loveworthy possessed a wisdom far surpassing any I have ever seen.  No matter how old I get, I always feel as a child in her presence.’

  And before us appeared a young woman, dressed in jeans and tank top, crossing a stream.  On the other side stood Estelle, now an old woman, now a child.  We all knew the young woman to be Loveworthy and our hearts jumped with joy.  We hadn’t seen her in so long.

  ‘She wanted me to cross the stream with her, barefoot.  But it was freezing cold, and the rocks were slippery,’ Estelle reminisced.  

  ‘Come on, Stell!’ coaxed Loveworthy.  ‘You can do it!’

  ‘She reached to me, waiting.  So, I took off my shoes, took her hand and stepped into the stream.  The water was moving so fast!  But she held me fast and pulled me gently toward her.’

  The scene unfolded in front of us as Estelle recounted the story.  The little girl now holding Loveworthy’s hand, stepping cautiously from one rock to the other.  Loveworthy beaming with pride, excited to have a mate explore the stream with her.

  As the little girl gained confidence, Loveworthy stepped deeper into the stream, taking on stronger, more rapidly flowing currents.  

  ‘I felt the current against my legs.  It was exhilarating and scary all at once,’ Estelle said, shivering involuntarily.  ‘But Loveworthy didn’t care.  In fact, she was thrilled by the challenge.’

  Interrupting, Hazel quietly asked, ‘You know Estelle, I’ve always wondered…who was Loveworthy to you?’

  ‘Loveworthy,’ Estelle stopped.  ‘Loveworthy was everything to me, all that I imagined a young woman could be.  She was hope and promise.  She was courage and vision.  She was an irrepressible force.  She was life.’

  The small girl and young woman danced across the water.

  Silence befell us all, transported into the dream, captivated by the hope that was Loveworthy.  And the scene faded into the rising mist.