I wanted to change someone else’s life. Instead, I changed my own.
"Dear Maya." When I sat down to write those two simple words ten years ago, I intended to change the life of a person who was struggling, to return a favor to my friend and idol, the one who'd helped me through some of the most difficult family circumstances imaginable. Little did I know that my life would be the one changed by those two words, and by the thirty-page letter that followed them. In a desperate attempt to make sense of the ensuing fallout, I embarked on an unexpected journey of discovery.
And then it Rained: Lessons for Life is the story of the valuable lessons I learned on this journey, and of how I applied those lessons to the most crucial outcome of my meditations: the inspiration to go to my “dream school."
Excerpt
Life is a constant game of wondering.
In the happiest of instances, we wonder how we could possibly be so lucky, why such great gifts have been bestowed upon us. In our saddest, most desperate moments, we wonder what we did to deserve the pain, why we must struggle while others find constant ease. I've spent years wondering why I was lucky enough to gain all that I did, only to end up losing so much.
I still don’t know all the answers; in fact, I probably never will. But I now know one truth: no matter the circumstance, the experience, or the outcome, I can always learn something from it.
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I once thought that learning from someone required that person actually to teach you, that important life lessons were an accumulation of knowledge, both from years of experience and from encountering a great number of educators. Then I met someone who, in a relatively short amount of time and without any intention of doing so, taught me more than I could’ve ever imagined.
This is not a drill. The attack on Pearl. They were the ghost planes of the night, deadly, illusive, sharp-clawed Black Cats. The Memoirs of ARM H.P. Lawrence, a Pearl Harbor survivor, Black Cat, and decorated war veteran.
She never felt safe at home as a young girl, and didn't understand why when she finally escaped she wasn't safe in the big wide world either ...effectively jumping out of the frying pan into the fire!
