For a very long time, ever since I watched the FLCL series, secretly i’ve always wanted something amazing to happen. Something so extraordinary, life changing.
After talking to Jill tonight, the mother i’m working for, she made me realize that extraordinary things happen to me every day.
Before I left her house, we were standing in the playroom, talking.
She told me that she remembers exactly how it feels to be 17. She’s 34. She talked to me about her friends, school, how she got a foot long Buddha tattooed onto her back, how she raised the $5000 for her son’s medical expenses by getting famous DJs to fly into Jersey to play a show.
She sat down and said, quietly, “But…do you know what?–JILL, ARE YOU COMING UPSTAIRS?” As her father interrupted her.
She frowned and yelled back, “YES, I’m talking with Claire.”
I hate this. She said.
I hate this. I just need.. five minutes of peace…
For seven years I lived in my own house. I need to move out. I am an adult. I need to get my things together, I’m going back to school, I have a job, I want to try and spoil my son making only $100,000 a year because he deserves it.
He does. I reply.
(She stands up)
He loves you, do you know that? Matthew told me. My mother and I are polar opposites, but she can read people. The first time I spoke with you on the phone I got a good vibe. He’s happy–I.. You don’t realize how much this means to us. We are so happy we have you…
I just.. can’t stand this.
(She has tears in her eyes)
Thank you so much, everything has been so hard and you…
I tell her, with tears in my eyes too, If you ever need anything, I am just a phone call away. If you ever need someone to talk to, I can drive here. We can have lunch together, we can go out and talk, If I can do anything to help…
With open arms, we hugged. I’m so happy you’re with us, she said.
We head upstairs.
I love the feeling of connecting with people..
I say, it’s my–favorite. We smile.
– – –
I say good bye to Matthew and walk out the door into the cold night. I glance up at the night sky and see a plane flying through uncharted regions.
I sit in the car, thinking.
I used to wish for giant robots to fall out of the sky. Or mechanical cat ears to sprout from our heads, or a Cyborg Fire God to save me. But this whole time, without seeing it until this evening, extraordinary things happen in my life:
Ms. Thomas freaking out and running to show me a surprise; She happily puts a large plastic bag onto the counter and is squealing with delight as she unwraps four individually painted mugs, for us and only us.
Watching shooting stars from my rooftop.
Seeing Mr. Iannucci’s face light up when I gave him a bag of gifts from me for his Son’s third birthday.
Remembering my adventures with Allie.
Hearing my littlest nephew speak in full phrases.
Finding my life intertwined with Jiyun and Reem’s.
Kissing Brian.
Discovering a bright red Japanese maple tree down my street.
Little Matthew taking my hand while playing Hullabaloo and laughing and running around.
Watching a caterpillar transform into a butterfly.
The warm, summer air of midnight flooding the car as I drive with my cousins.
The feeling I get when I tell my dad i’m going somewhere, run out the door, jump into the car and pull out of my driveway in under a minute.
– – –
Every single person has their own problems.
Everyone has something terrible to deal with.
Iannucci said to Marianne and I,
I haven’t been happy since the middle of last year.
He is a single, hard-working father who is trying to get his Masters. He is an adult trying to get his life together, too.
– – –
I don’t know if I have the right to say it but.. I think I have the power to change lives.
Mr. Champagne told us, “I don’t know if simple kindness can change the world, but I know it can change lives.”
I knew from the start, when I met Jill, our lives would interlock and somehow, in some way, we would change each other’s lives for the better.
When I made Iannucci a get well card when something drastic happened during school that brought his spirits down, seeing him happy again for a moment and telling me that he would put it in his special box of other students’ cards let me know that I was changing a life, in some way or another.
I don’t know why i’m getting teary eyed right now, but..
i’m feeling an overwhelming sense of truth in myself. Like I know the exact reason for my existence. That I was put on this earth to help and inspire everyone I meet. To give people hope. Nobody is happy. There is always something. Every single life out there has a flaw. Or two, or three.
Mr. K wrote all of us personalized letters on lined paper. In mine he wrote, “You secretly were the moral compass for guitar club just because you are just so nice. Don’t lose that. We need more of it.”
Knowing that by babysitting and helping Jill, I am changing lives. I give them hope.
The world is full of extraordinary things.
Amazing things.
Why.. do we refuse to see them?
AtJPY59,000, it converts to about USD$715. I figure we’d be splitting about $400 a month. Not bad at all, considering that a lot of teaching positions i’ve come across pay starting at around $3,200 a month. Kyle and I already know how much money we need to eat every month.
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