life is beautiful

I went to Dr. Dewan's house today with my sister, and we got a ride back from a couple that had also been visiting her. The husband was American, and the wife a Peruvian lady. She spoke with an accent, and smiled a lot. The wrinkles on her face betrayed the sparkle in her eyes.

We found out later in the car that she had gone to Juliard, been a classical dancer originally. She'd grown up in Lima and learnt the art from retired Russian dancers! It sounded so romantic to me; I tried imagining her, as a young woman, arriving in New York for the first time. As she talked about her first impression of New York, the fond memory surrounded her - the excitement of leaving home for the first time; away from parents; coming to America; to New York city! What an alive city. She met her husband at a party in New York, he was studying at Columbia at the time. They had both only gone to the party casually (imagine if one or the other hadn't?). Life is funny sometimes. Chance plays.

Then: "Life is beautiful." The charm with which she spoke those words, made me remember all over that it was. "Enjoy it. Enjoy life while you have it. Look all around you, there's all this beauty." A smile. "There are all these pessimistic people, thinking things are falling apart... but look; it's beautiful." Her vibrance, her vibrancy for life, is refreshing; we're decades apart, I'm young, but she's vibrant; I start to feel the vibrancy I know is in there, looking past the mist, thank you. Her husband, then added "Yes, things are falling apart (refering to the state of the economy), but I'm still happy." Then she motions "It's beautiful; like, look, those trees!" You just have to open your eyes, live, to see the beauty.