There is this person I know.
A person whom I shall call Miss Brown.
Now I've known Miss Brown for quite some time, just about a decade, I should say, and though I can't quite say that I know her innately well, nor can I say that I know her as well as her loved ones should, I can say that I've heard enough, experienced enough and also, felt enough.
Enough to the degree where, with permission from those in direct contact with her, I'm compelled to speak, as best as we know it, as best as we understand it, the story that exclusively belongs to her.
Now, this is not an autobiography.
Miss Brown is simply, Miss Brown. She is an ordinary lady in her late seventies who has lived her life in the way she has lived it. She is an ordinary lady who grew up, got married, had kids, had a home, had a second home, and a third home.
If we were to go by international standards of achievements or celebrity-hood, Miss Brown would classify as a nobody. She hasn't made any significant contribution to society of her own accord. She hasn't made any extraordinary discovery that has changed the lives of people around her or millions around the world. She hasn't defined any theory nor has she disrupted any. She doesn't run any enterprise that the world would want to sit up and take notice of. And neither is she any sort of influencer with thousands of followers.
Miss Brown is, in short, an ordinary person.
Of what purpose then, some will ask, is the telling of her life then? What goal does it serve? And even if it serves a goal, who will want to learn? Who will want to know? Who will want to care?
Miss Brown doesn't know. And neither does she care.
Because there's no intention for her to encourage or motivate or influence anyone. She's just climbing one step at a time until she reaches the top where knows she's happy. She just knows that she's lived her life as best as she can, and all the bends that life has thrown her are just that- bends.
Not everyone can be extraordinary. No doubt many of us yearn and work hard at becoming extraordinary, no doubt many of us celebrate the successful, the special, the talented, the wise, the capable, the powerful, the extraordinary, yet the truth of the matter is that most of us are far from being those that society celebrates.
And it is in this very place that Miss Brown wishes to speak in.
Because the stories of people like herself are plentiful.
Because the stories of people like herself who have lived their lives and gone through milestones and trials and lemons and bends are the most powerful, the most influential, the most relevant- for you and I.
Not everyone can be extraordinary. No doubt many of us yearn and work hard at becoming extraordinary, no doubt many of us celebrate the successful, the special, the talented, the wise, the capable, the powerful, the extraordinary, yet the truth of the matter is that most of us are far from being those that society celebrates.
And it is in this very place that Miss Brown wishes to speak in.
Because the stories of people like herself are plentiful.
Because the stories of people like herself who have lived their lives and gone through milestones and trials and lemons and bends are the most powerful, the most influential, the most relevant- for you and I.