The following story has been written by me with the consent of the individual reciting it. Though I take no credita for any of the pictures used. Copyright @ [Muskan Neetu Purohit, 2022]. Any illegal reproduction of this content will result in immediate legal action. The motive behind writing real stories is to make people's voices heard and share my Love for story telling with the world. Though some names, dates and places mentioned might be different from reality to ensure privacy.

She's from Nepal but came here many years ago. I've known her from my very early visits to the hospital and she has always been super nice to me. Her age is 65 but she's so young in spirit that she'll leave you wondering how she manages to thrive every day. I recently was going through a very tough time and this is when I got to spend more time with her. She blessed me every day, looked into my eyes, and believed in my dreams with me. You know the feeling of home? Yeah, she made me feel the same when she caressed my head with her tired hands. I'll feel like such a failure if I fail to be like her in my 60s. She reminds me of my Nani, honestly.

She was married off to an army man when she was 12 and she traveled with him everywhere. I can't even describe the light of her eyes when she talked about her husband, and even if I'll never get to know him personally, I just know that from her eyes, he was a great man and that's all that matters to me. She smiles, gets shy, appreciates everything he did for her, talks a lot about how they got through tough times with each other and how much she misses him but doesn't get weak over his memories as he was her strength. If you'll look at her and hear her stories from the past, you'll think that she doesn't need a man to validate her existence but love is special and he gave her the love and respect she deserved.

She has 5 daughters and 2 sons and all of them are married now. She lives with her Daughter-in-law and grandkids and is currently working at a hospital to support her family and save for her future because she doesn't feel like sitting at home all day and thinks it's better for her to work a little. Two amazing facts about her are that first, she understands when to take a break instead of stressing the body out and I really appreciate this about her because I refuse to stop even when I'm tired. Second, I got to meet her most of the time when my cousins or other family members had daughters, and even when the whole world criticizes the parents when a girl is born, she prays for the family's well-being and gives her blessings with the whole heart. She's kind, smart and very unique! She even took the responsibility of getting her younger daughter-in-law educated, she helped her graduate and tells a lot of stories about how she used to take her to exam centers.

I remember going to the hospital once when I was sick and I was really scared as I had to take some tests but she was there because she noticed me crying. I remember her voice telling me that it's going to be okay and that I shouldn't be scared as I'm a strong girl. The test went well and she held my hand throughout the process but I guess I was too young to understand the warmth I felt when I was around her. Now when I think about it, I understand what a great lady she is. She always addresses me as her daughter and comments something nice on my outfits every time she sees me. I haven't spent much time with her but I don't know how she manages to understand my love for fashion and poetry. I love how she blesses me and never makes me apologize for my dreams.

(Picture credit: Pinterest

Protagonist's picture not used to respect the privacy of the individual)

I once asked her if I could take a picture of her and she just said, "I don't look good in pictures but if it will make my daughter (me) smile, I'll take a thousand pictures" and to be very honest, when I think of her smiling face, it brightens up my day. When I was fascinated by her thought process, I asked her what's her secret of being who she is and how she's so young at heart and she replied, "Because I don't hate anyone and focus only on myself and my priorities. Because look, when you think too much about what you don't like, it destroys you from within so I try to change it or I just accept it and try to focus on my blessings".