Soul Sister

Her name was Jeanette.

The first thing I knew about her was her voice - then, her eyes. She came just a head above the table in front of her and she was friendly as all-get-out. "Have you come to visit me??" I turned to find the voice that spoke and that slightly-toothless smile roped my heart before I could even blink.

Her eyes were the color of warm, sweet hazel and her hands weren't afraid to touch. I sat down in the chair next to her and she took ahold of my arm. "My oh my, just look at how beautiful you are!!" she hooted. If clouded eyes could twinkle, hers did. She chuckled a little to herself, then looked down at her flamingo-pink nails. They were chipped at the ends, but the hue was still as lively as she was.

We talked about the beauty parlor she had owned in a little town in Texas. "They'd all come in, at least once a week," she said - there was a gentle pride in her voice when she spoke about it. She had a backbone - maybe not in that small weathered frame now, but that spirit of hers sure was as strong as ever. We talked of pearls and diamonds, and other things that go between just us girls - and there was something about her that made my tongue want to slip into Southern. I told her my Grandma had been to beauty school too, and that she had always looked lovely just like Jeanette. I told her about the double-strand choker I'd picked out after my Grandma had left, and the vintage clasp that went so well with those pearls. "Isn't that just lovely??" Jeanette asked. "Isn't that just lovely!" She patted her hair and claimed that she never knew what to do with it - but we both knew that she always had.

Between laughter and tales of Texas and travels, she grabbed my arm again gently - but this time, her voice became softer and those wise old eyes were intent. She was sincere when she said, "Just make sure that whatever choice you do make, you make it with the Lord. You make sure it's what He wants."

I felt it - it was sweet; it was pure. Here she was, mind half-lost with all the others around her almost gone too, but speaking with a streak of truth so real and so right that it was unmistakable. I could feel it pressing against me, and it was just what I had needed.

I thanked her and told her what a doll she'd been. She held tightly onto my wrist. "You come back and visit now, ya hear?" I could tell she felt desperate behind that smile of hers, and it made me ache because I already loved her so much. "I'll come back Jeanette," I promised. I told her I'd never seen her hair look so good, even when I had never seen it before. She chuckled some more and hooted and hollered, then her eyes gently left and she went back into her own little world.

My heart was full to the brim when I walked through that door - for feeling a love so big for a woman so small.