Stronger In The Broken Places
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A few years ago on a warm, summer day, after my mother passed away, I organized an estate sale at my parents' large old Spanish home along the coast of Los Angeles. My brothers , sisters and boyfriend helped me label and tag 53 years of furniture, rugs, clothing, books and family heirlooms. We displayed everything in our big grassy backyard and must have had about 100 people come by the house that day. I was exhausted from this daunting task and finally at the end of the day, a few forlorn castoffs, bits, pieces and old mementoes of my parents' lives lay scattered throughout the yard. By 7pm my family and boyfriend had left. I felt tired, sad, deflated and emotionally drained from this long, memorable day. It had been a really tough year for me and this experience felt like a rite of passage. A tall, lean young woman whom I'd just met that day, a friend of a friend named Suzanne stayed behind and continued to help me clean up the yard. We gathered knick-knacks putting them into boxes, throwing out anything that was now deemed "junk".
She was so kind and helpful and eventually the two of us sat down on some old garden chairs to chat. I glanced down onto the grass and picked up a small white, porcelain angel with a broken wing. Suzanne said - "Wow - that angel is just like me. I have a broken wing." I said "What do you mean?" She said "I'm a recovering alcoholic and one of the reasons I stayed behind to help you is that in AA they teach us to be of service to others, to perform some act of service every day. You see, I may have a broken wing, but I think we become stronger in the broken places."
She was referring to the quote In Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway.
“The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong in the broken places. But those that will not break it kills.”
I gave her a big hug and thanked her - savoring what she said. I held onto that little porcelain angel with the broken wing. To this day, it sits on my bedroom dresser and when I look at it, I smile and think of Suzanne's wisdom and kindness.
The world breaks everyone and afterward, some of us ARE stronger at the broken places. Courage actually comes from being vulnerable, so if we take advantage of challenges, we DO become stronger.
I never saw Suzanne again but she truly touched my heart that day. She was my angel with a broken wing.
Today I asked myself "In what ways have I become stronger in the broken places? " Food for thought...
Brené Brown, the TED Speaker says...
“Vulnerability is what we feel when we know we’re not perfect, but we’re willing to step into that wide open space anyway. When we lay wide open with our hearts completely present, we display our inner beauty in such a way as to move other people to tears.”
That's what the beautiful Suzanne did for the "broken" me that summer day.
