Thoughts of Haiti
Jan. 13th, 2010 10:12 pm![[personal profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
princess_muffinI had the pleasure of working with an amazing woman from Haiti many years ago at Genzyme. She was sent to the US in her mid-teens with her siblings for their safety by her father, a highly political figure in opposition to the regime in power. When I met her she was a fellow scientist studying for certification as an FDA regulatory specialist.
This woman was more alive than any other woman I have ever met. She simply oozed sensuality. She could make love to you with her eyes and bring a flush to your cheeks with just a smile. Despite her fair excess of weight she carried herself with supreme confidence, always glad to tell me stories about the wise women of her village who taught her the healing power of hands and words and songs, of what feeling alive is truly meant to feel like. She lived every day for the joy of living. While plenty could rile or frustrate her, nothing ever got her down. She is the only woman I've ever known to use the full range of inflection in her voice to conjure emotional energy in her audience, as I also try to do. She was something of a kindred spirit. I looked up to her in my mid-twenty-somethings; and even though it's been years since I've seen her, I still look up to her now.
She has been on my mind. I hope she and her family are safe. I can only imagine how the earthquake is affecting her; I hope she is surrounded by good people who are there for her, wherever she may be. If even a fraction of the people of Haiti are as wonderful as she is, then far more has been lost from the world than just human lives and livelihoods.
This woman was more alive than any other woman I have ever met. She simply oozed sensuality. She could make love to you with her eyes and bring a flush to your cheeks with just a smile. Despite her fair excess of weight she carried herself with supreme confidence, always glad to tell me stories about the wise women of her village who taught her the healing power of hands and words and songs, of what feeling alive is truly meant to feel like. She lived every day for the joy of living. While plenty could rile or frustrate her, nothing ever got her down. She is the only woman I've ever known to use the full range of inflection in her voice to conjure emotional energy in her audience, as I also try to do. She was something of a kindred spirit. I looked up to her in my mid-twenty-somethings; and even though it's been years since I've seen her, I still look up to her now.
She has been on my mind. I hope she and her family are safe. I can only imagine how the earthquake is affecting her; I hope she is surrounded by good people who are there for her, wherever she may be. If even a fraction of the people of Haiti are as wonderful as she is, then far more has been lost from the world than just human lives and livelihoods.
