The Woman I look up to.

March 19, 2022

I used to admire her from afar. Her poise, her grit, her excellence are one of the many things I love about her. I wonder how she is as a mom, friend or a sister. Does she even talk to the helpers at their house? I wanted to ask her a million and one question. "Do you know a joke?"is one. I only know bits and pieces about her but I'm not contented, I want to experience her presence. I am fully-aware that it is too impossible so I settled to a goal of at least taking a photo with her. That would be hard still but achievable if I would be more confident.

I know that she was a great science faculty before and that she has three kids. Her kids' names are all unique. They also excel in their studies. Their home is simple and is made of wood. I don't know her husband's profession but they say he came from a prominent family.

I have seen her many times during school affairs. She would always be at the limelight, delivering a speech or simply sitting with her collegue. I like the way she speaks in public. Slowly and articulately. You can instantly perceived that she is born smart. The way dhe walks is very minimal. With poise, straight body, stomach in, breast and butt out. Scratch that, her stomach is not bulging. Even if she would not hold her breath, her stomach won't still be noticeable. Her steps are minimal but career-wise, she takes great leaps.

Life has its way of catching us off guard, I already forgot about her and the dream about her. But life took me to where she is. I never knew that I would be working in close coordination with her. I just knew that we work in the same place, but I have never imagined getting this close with her.

By close, I don't describe our relationship, I describe our distance. I got to see her workplace, touch her things, hear her voice, hear her speaking vernacular. One time in an encounter with her, she was busy attending online meeting while preparing to leave for another face-to-face engagement, she was short of time that she uttered, "kagwang". It is a visayan expression implying how frustrating things are. I find it cute, at least I learned that she is normal. She is just like any of us. She may be a woman who holds a high- rank, but still she is undoubtly a human. Still a human.

I have attended two small gatherings hosted by her. One was when she treated us with an afternoon tea. We had ice cream and pancit that time. She didn't eat with us. She just took a share of food with her and take it to her office. She told us to help ourselves anyway. Another was during an anniversary, she treated everyone with a heavy snack of heavy meals.

One time she asked who will be my president and mayor, I answered her in a way that she answered "ah yes, ene be yern". She is not a teenager anymore and I thought that with her busy schedule filled with academic tasks, I am amazed at how she managed to adapt to the millenial way of speaking. This woman is a human talaga.

I don't know how this whole adventure of a ride would go with her around. I am filled with emotions like nervousness and excitement. I wanted to go far away but I also want to face this head on. The idea of having to work for her is making me cringe and would eat the whole of me but they say we have to do the things that scares us because they are worth it. I certainly believe that everything is worth it. It is just that I don't want to make mistakes and fail everybody.

*Lead Image is from Unsplash.com

Thank you for reading. Until the next read!