Abyss of a Caring Soul

“Mei, hi.”

           ‘Am I dreaming?’ I wondered with excitement heating up inside me. Then I turned my back following the voice and saw that womanly sweet smile of her. It’s really Laura whom I was thinking of and missing just this morning for it’s Saturday and it’s been a while I didn’t see her at the library. I rushed out of the information desk and gave her a hug. “Don’t you miss me? It’s been a while I didn’t see you.” I playfully accused her of not coming to the library to see Mei-Wan. “I did come but didn’t see you at the desk.” “Well, next time, when you do come let me know, ok?” “Ok” with a unique of her small voice.

“Are you a tea person?”

“Yes.”

“Wait here.”

I jogged back to the staff’s break room, fetched 5 tea bags from the kitchen cabinet, and put them in a plastic cup.

“Here are 5 Oolong tea bags. Smell it.”

Deeply breathe in the fragrance, she looked up at me and said “it smells wonderful.”

“Well, take them and let me know if you like it, ok?

“Ok.”

Then I sat down on the floor at the adult fiction area with Laura knelt down beside me. We talked about self-help books the kind of books Laura enjoys reading. She is a daily reader. I asked about her job: she is a surgery nurse. At our first meet, she told me something about her profession and the people at the workplace. The day I ran into her was a day I wouldn’t forget. Early that afternoon I got a phone call and the lady on the phone asked to speak to a “real” librarian even though I told her I got a MLS degree. Her denial of my librarianship hit me pretty hard hurting my ego pretty bad. The humiliation led me crying in the public restroom and I had to rush out of the library to hide my scarlet face and red eyes. But I was stationed at the desk at the hour. It also forced me to expose my vulnerability and weakness to my coworkers to ask them to serve the public at the time.

After I pulled myself together I came across Laura at the 158’s area. Her soft and small voice almost healed my sabotaged soul that afternoon. She is the God sent angel.

From doctors to her patients, she told me her future dream job: a hospice nurse. The moment she mentioned the word “hospice” my high school best friend, Honesty’s image was swimming in my mind. Honesty began her nursing career at the hospice care and is now the head nurse of one of the most renowned hospice care hospitals in Taiwan. As I listened to Laura my eyes fixed on her beautiful eyes. It’s abyss of a caring soul. Who cares about politeness. Totally engrossed at her voice and watching her eyes, I couldn't help but asked “what color of your eyes?” “Dark blue” she said. “Are you married? Do you mind I ask you?” “I am single. No I won’t mind.” Then she smiles!

Do you know how big her eyes are? As big as her caring heart and soul!!

As we talked about books, reading programs, and my programs, an idea hit me. “Will you be one of my sponsors?” I asked her. In our conversation she mentioned she also likes to read cookbooks. “Sure.” I shared with her the reason why I served food and tea bags at every program of mine: the public library is a social platform for people to relax, entertain, and make friends. Laura further shared with me her love of tea. She said “There is some magic about tea.” “I agree with you.”

As we are stretching and standing up, I suggested her to place the tea bags in her purse to free her left hand to hold books she would like to check out. “Huh.” I scored another sweet smile of her! We exchanged our goodbyes; I could still hear her ladylike voice following me as I turned and walked to the staff area.

I wonder as I am sitting here and composing this post for my blog: who served whom this afternoon?

Lady Laura is a giver.