Reading from 'Live, Love, Explore\" page 47
Description
Vocal Characteristics
Language
EnglishVoice Age
Young Adult (18-35)Accents
North American (General)Transcript
Note: Transcripts are generated using speech recognition software and may contain errors.
I walked through school that morning with that ever present knot tightening inside me. My heart sank through my body. The color draining from my face and the terrible abyss of feeling like I didn't have a friend in the world consumed me. It was hard enough being targeted by a group of boys who had somehow made it their life's mission to make my life miserable. But now I was the laughing stock of the whole school. I was learning very quickly that people were capable of being dangerous and cruel that it was better to be an island than to swim in the sea of humanity. I wasn't even 16 and yet I was profoundly shut down emotionally. As I walked through the halls of school that morning, the other kids' laughter echoing in my ears. I wondered whether life was really worth the pain. And then I met a woman who changed my life, a guest speaker at school only a few months after my vandalized space had been wallpapered across the halls. My son died in the Middle East in 1992 and not for one day. Do I regret the life he lived with the first words out of her mouth. The speaker's son was a photojournalist who had traveled all over the world, taking pictures of different cultures and different countries. Even when they were at war, the speaker continued talking about how she had never really known her son until after he had died. My son and I became best friends after his death. She explained through the stories of his life. I found comfort. But more than that, I found inspiration.