Waves of Joy
By Laura G. Volunteer in Brazil
We have a friend- she’s quite unlike anyone I’ve met before. Though we aren’t sure of her age, we think she’s around 16. From what we have heard from our neighbors and her, she has had a challenging childhood. We see her wandering around the streets most of the day, talking to herself or one of her many acquaintances. When we see her, we always stop to say hi, whether that be for 30 seconds, 20 minutes, or the whole afternoon.
Long before I arrived, she’d been wanting to spend a day with us at the beach. When the day came, she made sure to show up at 6:30 in the morning with everything prepped. It worked out good for us, cause there’s always less people early in the day. Right away, on the bus, she was different than normal, calmer. She was able to blend in, something I’d never seen her do before. She listened to others converse and stared out the window for our ride that was over an hour. When we caught sight of the shoreline, her normal, crazy but sweet, attitude came rushing back and she was filled with excitement. She took no time getting in the water, and since Emma took the first shift, I intended to read while watching our bags. I could barely get through a page of my book, though, because every time I looked up, I saw her having the time of her life. I ended up just watching and laughing at Emma trying to contain the joy of this girl, joy that was expressed in what sometimes looked like drowning. After swallowing enough salt water, she was ready for a break… then it was my turn to brave the waves. I figured since there was hardly anybody there, it wouldn’t hurt to let out little shrieks (hers not so little) when the water hit us. We danced and jumped in the surf. Her outlook on God’s great creation was one of felicity. During her water and food breaks she gazed at the sea and recounted how awesome beach days are.
That day I saw a girl truly present and content in what she was living. Sometimes, with the internet, it feels as though you don’t need to leave your house to enjoy a morning, afternoon, or even years. It isn’t until you leave your bubble of normalcy and live something as pure and simple such as this that you can recall all the time you’ve wasted not living so. Though I hope to live to enjoy many more beach days, I don’t know if another will ever compare to this.