Tuesday 18 September 2007

grace, or a story I tell on certain occasions

On certain occasions, more times than I can remember now, I have
sat with other women telling the stories of violence attempted or done
to us at the hands of certain men and there is a kind of grace just in the
telling and the hearing and the praise we offer each other for surviving
such things and going on, but when such rites occur, I also often tell this
story, which is not my story, but a true story nonetheless:

Two young women were visiting Cambodia and one night they stayed late
at a friend’s house and then hailed motorbike taxis to take them home. And
the drivers they hailed were evil men who had formulated a plan, and they
drove in separate directions in the dark so that the girls would lose their way.
And one girl knew instantly that the way was wrong and she threw herself off
of the back of the motorbike and was saved. But the other girl was not the sort
who paid much attention to strange places, so she did not notice that she was
being taken to a new part of the city, did not notice for a long time that she was
being taken, until the city suddenly fell away and they were on a road in the dark.
And then she hoped for the best, for she did not know her way home. And finally
they stopped, at the door of a brothel, and she knew it somehow for a place of evil
and said she would not go in, and then he drove away into a dark field and then stopped
the motorbike and fell upon her and she fought him, harder than he had expected,
and he grew afraid and released her and ran to his motorbike and drove away. And
she rose from that field in a strange land and began to walk in the dark and then she
saw a light, a candle in the window of a small wooden house. And she climbed the
stairs and she knocked and a middle-aged Cambodian woman opened the door, and
looked at the bruises on the girl’s face, and let her in. She stayed that night in the
house of the woman, and they had no language between them, but the woman sat
the girl down before her and took a brush and brushed her hair for a long long time.

I think that perhaps the image of grace does not get any stronger, any purer, than this,
than a woman in a small wooden house
on a dark night, brushing the hair of a stranger who
needed her. And I tell this story time and again so that those of us who did not
have anyone to take us in and comfort us in the aftermath of violence
can imagine what it would have been like if we did,
if we could only have had a mother’s hands in our hair,
taking all the fear and the anger and the shame away,
one slow stroke at a time.

17 comments:

Patricia Sayre said...

Lisa,

I love this story! I think it's always good to share and hear such stories of comfort in a world such as ours. Thanks for keeping us informed.

With love,

Anonymous said...

Get [url=http://buy-cialis.icr38.net/Dutas]dutas online[/url] easy - Colossal Offer eurax online easy - Colossal Price

Anonymous said...

Free pills Without prescription [url=http://stores.lulu.com/buylasixonlineeasy]Buy Lasix Online[/url] Buy Prilosec Online Buy Visa/Mastercard/Amex/eCheck [url=http://stores.lulu.com/buyzoloftonlineeasy]Buy Zoloft Online[/url] Buy Bactrim Online
Sale Visa/Mastercard/Amex/eCheck [url=http://stores.lulu.com/buyzithromaxonlineeasy]Buy Zithromax Online[/url] Buy Elavil Online

Anonymous said...

25mg ED [url=http://stores.lulu.com/buyvaliumonlineeasy]Buy Valium Online[/url] Buy Doxycycline Online Low price Pharmacy [url=http://stores.lulu.com/buyprednisoneonlineeasy]Buy Prednisone Online[/url] Buy Bactrim Online
Drug Pharmacy [url=http://stores.lulu.com/buynolvadexonlineeasy]Buy Nolvadex Online[/url] Buy Levitra Online

Anonymous said...

YbNMaa norimin low price RCncLk persantine ed zyVShC tamiflu sale WimHdZ symmetrel world delivery LZysur altace online ByhGFn atrovent generic HDSyHY nimotop no prescription

Anonymous said...

ZUHDHs lisinopril rx PFmbJA ditropan 50mg RqljFD lozol world delivery YPBdtf casodex side-effects vRaeHg adalat 10mg TbWyKy reglan 10mg frUrHk himplasia 50mg

Anonymous said...

nhmQKk aygestin ed atCbwc abana 10mg YRdUWl norvasc without prescription vRRQCd glucotrol world shipping QDQeyu relafen rx BGCjui luvox order bjHfTU motrin now

Anonymous said...

TrFtQi ceclor ed qlKKxl septilin get eDjTiO lotrisone buy AWsIDP minipress online qbuDlM biaxin low price ZwXsII betapace canadian YsfPiS casodex discount

Anonymous said...

uhLmHe evista generic UQaILo keftab without prescription eMpaWd tramadol cheap kFWPfK isosorbide mononitrate sale BMgwhI snoroff drug hkPBxl capoten free pills KRBrGz phenergan cheap

Anonymous said...

clomid treatment for infertility | buy clomid and nolvadex - buy clomid canada, when will i ovulate after clomid

Anonymous said...

will clomid regulate my period | http://cheapclomidonline.jimdo.com/#58119 - clomid price, clomid test

Anonymous said...

clomid twins statistics | [url=http://buycheapclomid.webs.com/#7191]buy clomid online usa[/url] - clomid 150mg, lbnf clomid and ovulation test

Anonymous said...

when to take clomid after cycle | where to buy nolvadex and clomid - clomid medication, two follicles on clomid

Anonymous said...

dosage clomid | http://buy-clomid-in-usa.webs.com/#82080 - buy clomid overnight delivery, clomid stomach pain

Anonymous said...

clomid success rates on first cycle | [url=http://buycheapclomid.jimdo.com/#7428]clomid 50mg[/url] - clomid tablet, ypss when to take clomid pct

Anonymous said...

clomid pregnancy success stories | clomid 25 - taking 100mg clomid, taking clomid without a period first

Anonymous said...

taking clomid without doctor | [url=http://ordergenericclomid.webs.com/#57304]clomid tab[/url] - clomid purchase, sepj how long does it take for clomid to take effect