ENG 112 HAPPINESS PROJECT
DEER FRIENDS
Usually there are deer. From my back window, a person can see into the woods behind my house. My yard is almost non-existent, save for a small 10x12 plot of grass, that is really more like moss, so there is nature practically out my back door. And, on sunny days like today, a family of unafraid deer prance and forage out side of the window. They are large, several years old many of them, and there is a baby among them. I expected to see him this year, a little older now, rummaging through the garbage can with his parents and cousins. But, not today. Today there was no deer at all to be found. So, that day, I sat inside, sipping tea and designing a creative project for my Girl Scouts, with Sarah across the table from me, staring not out the window as I might usually be doing, but at my best friend in the world.
It had been too long. We hadn’t seen each other in several months, which was still more often than we had seen each other during that time I had moved back to Florida and she to Oklahoma with her fiancé Jonathan some 6 years before.
That was an exciting time for me. But, perhaps less so for Sarah. She got to travel and live out one of my own dreams of living abroad. She got to give life and love to 5 beautiful kids as well. Those were the good things. But, she worked for it. She put up with a husband who cheated on her, who criticized her, who took advantage of and disregarded her. The cost was huge, and I could see it on her face as I looked upon and examined her and not my deer.
Sarah was always athletic, but more so now. Her arms were more chiseled, as were her facial features. Not in a manly way. She just looked stronger. And, Sarah was still unnaturally chipper—more like her younger self than I would ever be again—but, she wasn’t a naïve happy. She was world worn and weathered, not like an old woman but like a favorite pair of blue jeans that looked better and more stylish with age. Her once long ponytail was gone, replaced now with a curly Mohawk that made her look very en vogue. She said people thought she looked butch now and was thinking about cutting it off. I liked it though, maybe more than my own gravity defying salt and pepper afro. Sarah was thinner now because she had changed her diet in the two years since her divorce and subsequent move back home. My friend who used to ride me to McDonalds for milkshakes and hipped me to the fact that they also sold warm chocolate chip cookies was now only eating meat and vegetables. I know the change in her eating habits were necessary for her new career as a boxer, but it still made her model-esque and me a little bit jealous. She was always smaller than me in weight and height, but now the difference was Jack Sprat-ian and made me wonder if I should buy some training gear too. And, maybe a motorcycle like the one she got when she dumped her old man. My soft, roundness next to her angles and slight curves highlighted her growth as a person. The lack of fat in her face aged her a bit. But Sarah always did appear a little immature. The thinness of her face seemed to make her look like a grown up finally.
Despite a failed marriage and a family scattered, Sarah still smiled. Her eyes didn’t always smile, that seems like part of being an adult. Sarah was definitely stronger now. And, while always younger than me in age and wisdom, she had figured something out that I myself am still searching for, despite all my many more years of conventional education. Sarah found the key to not only looking the part of grown up but being one in the ways that mattered most. She had tapped into a place where, despite the challenges of the past few years of her life, it was still possible to smile—really to glow—and to treat every moment as precious. I found myself inspired by my friend. And, while I missed the deer staring into my kitchen, I found in my friend a natural wonder whose form I was seeing only for the first time that day. I saw a person before me who really had made a tremendous change. I was captivated. Drawn in by how much growth a person can make in just a few years. While maybe not in her ideal place, it warmed my heart to see my friend doing so much better and claiming her joy.
It had been too long. We hadn’t seen each other in several months, which was still more often than we had seen each other during that time I had moved back to Florida and she to Oklahoma with her fiancé Jonathan some 6 years before.
That was an exciting time for me. But, perhaps less so for Sarah. She got to travel and live out one of my own dreams of living abroad. She got to give life and love to 5 beautiful kids as well. Those were the good things. But, she worked for it. She put up with a husband who cheated on her, who criticized her, who took advantage of and disregarded her. The cost was huge, and I could see it on her face as I looked upon and examined her and not my deer.
Sarah was always athletic, but more so now. Her arms were more chiseled, as were her facial features. Not in a manly way. She just looked stronger. And, Sarah was still unnaturally chipper—more like her younger self than I would ever be again—but, she wasn’t a naïve happy. She was world worn and weathered, not like an old woman but like a favorite pair of blue jeans that looked better and more stylish with age. Her once long ponytail was gone, replaced now with a curly Mohawk that made her look very en vogue. She said people thought she looked butch now and was thinking about cutting it off. I liked it though, maybe more than my own gravity defying salt and pepper afro. Sarah was thinner now because she had changed her diet in the two years since her divorce and subsequent move back home. My friend who used to ride me to McDonalds for milkshakes and hipped me to the fact that they also sold warm chocolate chip cookies was now only eating meat and vegetables. I know the change in her eating habits were necessary for her new career as a boxer, but it still made her model-esque and me a little bit jealous. She was always smaller than me in weight and height, but now the difference was Jack Sprat-ian and made me wonder if I should buy some training gear too. And, maybe a motorcycle like the one she got when she dumped her old man. My soft, roundness next to her angles and slight curves highlighted her growth as a person. The lack of fat in her face aged her a bit. But Sarah always did appear a little immature. The thinness of her face seemed to make her look like a grown up finally.
Despite a failed marriage and a family scattered, Sarah still smiled. Her eyes didn’t always smile, that seems like part of being an adult. Sarah was definitely stronger now. And, while always younger than me in age and wisdom, she had figured something out that I myself am still searching for, despite all my many more years of conventional education. Sarah found the key to not only looking the part of grown up but being one in the ways that mattered most. She had tapped into a place where, despite the challenges of the past few years of her life, it was still possible to smile—really to glow—and to treat every moment as precious. I found myself inspired by my friend. And, while I missed the deer staring into my kitchen, I found in my friend a natural wonder whose form I was seeing only for the first time that day. I saw a person before me who really had made a tremendous change. I was captivated. Drawn in by how much growth a person can make in just a few years. While maybe not in her ideal place, it warmed my heart to see my friend doing so much better and claiming her joy.