The Field of Realization

In a town of no more than three thousand people, a one-acre field sits encompassed around a small community of family homes. The field lays barren for whatever reason that the owner felt it would not benefit her or anyone else. It grows thick grass within a few days but is quickly trodden down by the blades of a lawnmower within the week. This field, to many, means nothing. But to two souls, it means the start of a friendship. A friendship that would span almost a decade before time does what times does best and separates them. This field laid barren of activity for many years after the children born in the 1970s grew up and moved away. Time spanned almost thirty years before one small boy would find himself in that field.

This boy, being born amid technological advancements, felt alone and abandoned by his family. After a disagreement on whether he could go to a school function and being disappointed yet again by his family's ineptitude of understanding social life, he ran out to the field in despair. Why not go into the woods across the street? Why the open field? Maybe, this boy thought that someone might hear his cries. He ran as hard as he could and fell to his knees in the middle of the field and screamed out in anger. The trees rustled as birds were startled and flew away. He felt even more alone. His anger turned inside him. The pain that his family placed on him began to overwhelm him. As the anger turned his stomach, tears of sorrow began to flow from his eyes. The once angered and rebellious child now turned into a whimpering sparrow on a fence post. Crying out to anyone that would hear him. He looked up and noticed in the trees that surrounded a white two-story house that looked as though it would fall over at any moment, a frail woman jive walking with a greyhound at her side. She peeked through the limbs and leaves of the old hanging tree between her and the frail boy. Their eyes met. She waves him to come near. The boy slowly picks up himself and with his head hanging low, he walked to this woman. As he got nearer, he has seen this woman as for who she was, wise, beautiful, and kind. She ushered him to her porch. She asked him if he'd like a soda, never asking why he was in such an emotional state.

Once inside the teetering house, this boy took in his surroundings. It smelt like mothballs mixed in with a sense of cats and dogs. It was a peculiar spectacle. The inside of this house gave off a warm vibrant sensation of relief, safety, and love. Cabinetry from the '60s surrounded the kitchen. Even older furniture from beyond a recognizable time spaced throughout the house. In the middle of the kitchen sits a rickety wooden table and chair set, that would later be replaced by a metal set from the '50s. The space would forever be imprinted on this boy's mind. A memory of when things were unseemly but also riveting with hope. It is here, in this house with this frail woman, that this boy would come to realize that life is what you make it and not what others do to control it.

As the boy took his chair at the table, the woman went to the gas stove that matched nothing but the fridge. Their talk was minimum. She asked if he was hungry and even though he wasn't he would indulge himself either way because he was sure anything she cooked would have been better than the cashew chicken casserole he would have to eat back at home. Even the sound of it tasted like an oxymoron. How could someone tarnish cashew chicken by combining it into a casserole? White people, that's who. But this woman wasn't like most white people. She served him chili topped with shredded cheese. The chili tingled the taste buds but wasn't spicy. A perfected chili, in the mind of a young boy. This boy would finally open up to the woman. She assured him, that he would not need to be afraid to talk to her, for she has plenty of time and knowledge on life. This relationship would go on for ten years. Their connection became more of a familial kind. She took the place of his own family. She understood him more than anyone could.

They would go buy antiques to send to the woman's sister in Alaska to sell. She would teach him how to drive. He would teach her how to use a cellphone. She would mentor him on English and history, while he would do chores around her house. Sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, and even landscaping the yard. In turn, she would give him a small allowance to understand how to be financially stable. As time went on, this young boy became a young man. It was this woman that anchored him in reality, by treating him like a human being and not like an animal when he felt desperate for affection. Graduation came and he had to make a choice and in so doing, he would be forced to leave the side of this frail woman. He would have to live his life and take control of his destiny. It came time for him to leave the nest that a random woman had made for him. A woman that was a widow with no kin of her own. A woman that took in a chick with a broken family and became the family he needed. On their goodbye, she said what any proud mom would say; I'm proud of you. They shared a moment, not of sadness but accomplishment. He learned a valuable lesson of humanity, while she gained not only a friend, but a son.

Not all stories, though, have a happy ending. As time went on, and this young boy became a man in the military, he would learn that this woman's light to the world was fading. Out of pride, this woman kept it to herself, so that he would never see her weak. By the time he found out about it, it was too late. She shut him out. Not out of hate or pettiness. It was, in her mind, to keep him from the pain and suffering that would bestow upon him. It was to show him that all life has a beginning and an end. The middle of life is where you learn how to love, live, and hope. This man, would never go to the funeral, for if he did, he knew that he would never leave again. To stay in one place would be the end of his happiness. He would forever be in pain if he had made the journey to see her one last time. Instead, he will remember her as she was. A strong and independent woman that taught him the valuable lessons of life. The most valuable lesson: love is the most powerful force in the universe.

Looking back, this man, now writing this story has finally came to acceptance. Without that field of realization, he would not be where he is today. Without that woman showing compassion, he would never have found love for himself. To the field with hope that everyone has their moment of realization!