irma

It’s was just after 7:00 a.m. this morning, and I was lying in bed waiting to hit snooze again on my phone alarm, when all of a sudden my door flung open. It was our doe-eyed, adorable housekeeper – Irma. “Bone-y, Bone-y,” she squealed in a voice entirely too early for me, pre-coffee.

“Yes, Irma?”

“Today. Irma (she points at herself every time she says her name). Birthday. Irma. Birthday. Today.”

Suddenly, I was awake.

“Really?” I said with a half-asleep smile.

“Yes. Irma (pointing again). Seventeen. Today.” She was beaming from ear to ear at simple expression of this annual milestone.

And for her, it truly is, and as I awakened enough to realize it, I understood perhaps why this young girl was celebrating life with such sincere joy… because she has known so well its ending.

Irma was just fifteen last year when the tsunami hit Banda Aceh, taking with its destructive fury both of her parents, her siblings, her community – and for a teenage girl, basically her entire world. Her grandmother survived, but died just this past week.

Like thousands of others, Irma eventually moved into a barrack camp, and a new family emerged around her – older people that looked out after her a bit (one lady being another housekeeper who recommended Irma for the job with us). But she was a young pretty girl, relatively alone, and soon found herself surrounded by other teenage orphans… one of which became her husband.

Yes, sweet little now-seventeen-year-old Irma is married to an equally adorable boy just a few years older than her. Both of them had no family, so they have now become family for each other, while also abiding by the strict cultural standards that permit little interaction with the opposite sex unless you’re married.

And today, Irma was thrilled to celebrate life… her own.

She, unlike so many others, has a husband, a job that she seems to like, friends, growing English skills, a community that embraces her, and four foreign girls who adore her, despite frequent laundry mishaps and odd placement of cheese and other items in the cabinets instead of in the fridge.

So, needless to say, I awoke with a smile, refreshed already at seeing someone so resilient and precious celebrating the gift of Life.

May you celebrate yours today… even if it’s not your birthday.

With love from Banda,

bonnie jean