I See You

~Chapter 21~

Pain.

~

"Next we have a poem by Rosalina's granddaughter Naila."

Naila and Michael hold hands as he escorts her up to the podium. Having not shed so much as a tear all morning, Naila was bound to something during or toward the end of this poem.

While Michael slept, she woke out of her hour slumber thinking of what to say. Words began spewing her way left and right and by morning she had a whole poem ready to be recited.

Michael adjusts the mic for her, then leans close to her ear. "You've got this baby. I am right here." He gives her hand a light squeeze before stepping back out of view.

Moments pass as Naila pulls the poem from her pocket and places it on the podium. A sigh escapes her lips echoing throughout the whole church hall making her cringe at its loudness.

"Um," she starts, nervously. "I created a poem for my grandmother but before I get into that I just wanted to say a few things."

Taking a deep breath Naila begins, saying, "My grandmother, Rosalina Ivy Lopez-Wilson was—" Naila winces at the thought of that one word being past tense.

Was.

Gripping the side of the podium and letting out a shaky breath, Naila speaks again. "She is the true trail blazer for my family and everyone in this room can attest to that."

A couple of yes and rights echo throughout with one preach Naila coming from her great aunt.

"Being that the last image I saw of my grandmother was a couple of days before I lost my sight, I will forever have that image of her beautiful black ombré hair blowing softly in the wind. Her piercing brown amber eyes along with her angelic smile basking in the golden hour of our evening picnic. It was just her and I, which was rare at the time but it's certainly a moment I'll never forget—the last image of her."

Naila steps back from the podium to take a breath and gather herself. After a couple of breaths she steps forward and places her hands on the paper—familiarizing herself with the words she'd brailed that morning.

But she didn't need it because the words were engraved in her mind, so she just let it flow.

"Rosalina Ivy Lopez-Wilson...

She came into this life with a meaningful purpose,
Meaningful to me and meaningful to you,
Anyone that was ever in her presence can admit, she was the most beautiful woman they ever knew.

Her heart was pure and full of love,
So tender... so sweet,
With her loving, caring spirit around life was always complete.

She trail-blazed her way through life dropping stones along the way,
One of the most important ones is that it's important that we p-pray."

Hot torrents of grief course down her cheeks as her bottom lip quivers and her shoulders drop in resignation. Who is now going to say her prayers with her?

Michael steps beside her and grabs her hand making sure to give her a light squeeze of reassurance.

I am right here.

With the warmth of his skin against her very own, Naila calms down feeling complete comfort.

"Another one was honor, as she would say to me, "You must honor and respect your family,  for your days on Earth will be longer,"
Her life lessons from love to pain has only made me stronger.
Family was another one as you can see we're all gathered here today,
As the sun shines, she is smiling down at us shining her ray.