Running Barefoot

by Amy Harmon

“Mrs. Grimaldi says you can’t build walls and then be mad when no one wants to climb over them.”

“‘True love suffereth long, and is kind; true love envieth not. True love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up. True love does not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil. True love rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth. True love beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things!’“ I stopped for a breath and one emphatic push against Samuel’s chest. “1st Corinthians, Chapter 13. Check it out.”

There is beauty behind me as I walk There is beauty before me as I walk There is beauty below me as I walk. There is beauty above me as I walk. In beauty I must always walk.

Sonja said women have many emotions, but only one physical response. When we’re angry we cry. When we’re happy we cry. When we’re sad we cry. When we’re scared, you guessed it, we cry.

“You always had this light that made you seem like royalty...such an incredible mind, such beauty and humility. You took my breath away, time after time, day after day, on that smelly old school bus.”

I hated making small talk and avoided people in the grocery store and other places just so that I wouldn’t have to think of things to say. I liked people, I cared about them, and I wanted to be a good person, but don’t make me chat idly on the telephone or make pleasant conversation just for the sake of being polite.