"I am Happy"

It is the end of the week, and on my way home, everyday I am chased down by my favorite stalker, "Emily". There have been days where she has seen me pass by and bolts out of her mother's shop chasing me down, often out of breath just to say, "Hello! I am happy!" The weather doesn't matter to Emily. Emily runs, just to ensure I hear her tell me her name and that she is happy today. Even when Emily isn't in the best of spirits, she will look up at me and burst into a smile and chase me down. She stops me and I look over at her mother who smiles and shakes her head.

I am the strange woman that walks down the road, with this understood ceremony that at a certain time of the day, I am obligated to greet this creature, and I realize that even when I am not feeling happy...I must for Emily.

Emily has become my shot in the arm at times. This little girl who doesn't know fear, runs to exchange a few words with me everyday. The most powerful declaration in the world, "I am happy." She doesn't know the other words, like angry, sad, or the anti-happy word of 'unhappy'. She doesn't want to know those words for they hold no meaning for her. All she knows is she is happy, and she is sticking with that game plan.

After a long day, I often feel like the elderly that I see pushing their burdens down the road. Heavy with the years and the load. Many people don't want to look at the elders because in part they don't want to be them. They have the years they have spent, and often just when looking at them, you feel their lives follow them. What knowledge is learned is not necessarily wisdom.

With Emily...I startled her when I asked to take her picture. It threw her off balance, this was new, but there she was wiping away the serious life pondering thoughts from my mind. She doesn't have to think about being happy. She just is. It is often when we think too much, about whatever that may be, is when we get in the way of what 'happy' really means. Emily is happy being Emily. Emily is happy to chase me down everyday that she can to remind me of her own happiness.

"I am happy." For so many, it's an incredibly hard sentence to say.