ORPHAN

That one little noun can bring on so many different images to one’s mind. Do you think of “Orphan Annie”? Do you think about children who are poor, hungry, and are covered in ratty clothes and dirt? Do you have pity in your heart for a child who has no parents? Cinderella, The Little Princess, Snow White, Oliver Twist, Peter Pan, etc. are all stories that have been told from generation to generation. Our hearts go out to these characters in the stories. We are drawn to their pain and want to help them, or we are angry at the villains who make their lives living hell. However, we rarely carry these same empathetic feelings to the real people in our lives.

When someone loses family, a part of them is gone too. When they lose other people, who are close to them, another piece of them is gone. Their friends become their family. When those friends become distant and life becomes too busy for friendship, that person loses the rest of themselves.

They essentially have turned from the sparkling gown of Cinderella and her glass slippers to the ragged, dirt-smeared face “orphan” that life has made them. They watch their friends go on with their lives as if they were never there. They dare not say anything because they no longer feel worthy enough to do so.

Once upon a time, they would have joined in the laughter and would be in that living room gathered with their chosen people. Now, they are the sad eyes and a red nose in the cold of winter looking into the windows of those living life around them.

Do not pity them now. It is too late. Where was your empathy in the 5th hour of their darkest time? Where were you when they shied away from that first gathering? Where were you when the hollow of their own head was the only thing that heard their sobs?

You were there, right next to them. You were just too busy. You just happened to be the one that tore their dress to shreds. You smeared that last swipe of grime on their face. Was it an accident or on purpose? It does not even matter now because it all blends together on their tear-stained face as they come to terms with their new identity.

That one little noun can bring on so many different images to one’s mind. Do you think of “Orphan Annie”? Do you think about children who are poor, hungry, and are covered in ratty clothes and dirt? Do you have pity in your heart for a child who has no parents? Cinderella, The Little Princess, Snow White, Oliver Twist, Peter Pan, etc. are all stories that have been told generation to generation. Our hearts go out to these characters in the stories. We are drawn to their pain, and want to help them, or we are angry at the villains who make their lives living hell. However, we rarely carry these same empathetic feelings to the real people in our lives.

When someone loses family, a part of them is gone too. When they lose other people, who are close to them, another piece of them is gone. Their friends become their family. When those friends become distant and life becomes too busy for friendship, that person loses the rest of themselves.

They essentially have turned from the sparkling gown of Cinderella and her glass slippers to the ragged, dirt smeared face “orphan” that life has made them. They watch their friends go on with their lives as if they were never there. They dare not say anything because they no longer feel worthy enough to do so.

Once upon a time, they would have joined in the laughter and would be in that living room gathered with their chosen people. Now, they are the sad eyes and a red nose in the cold of winter looking into the windows of those living life around them.

Do not pity them now. It is too late. Where was your empathy in the 5th hour of their darkest time? Where were you when they shied away from that first gathering? Where were you when the hollow of their own head was the only thing that heard their sobs?

You were there, right next to them. You were just too busy. You just happened to be the one that tore their dress to shreds. You smeared that last swipe of grime on their face. Was it an accident or on purpose? It does not even matter now because it all blends together on their tear-stained face as they come to terms with their new identity.

That one little noun can bring on so many different images to one’s mind. Do you think of “Orphan Annie”? Do you think about children who are poor, hungry, and are covered in ratty clothes and dirt? Do you have pity in your heart for a child who has no parents? Cinderella, The Little Princess, Snow White, Oliver Twist, Peter Pan, etc. are all stories that have been told from generation to generation. Our hearts go out to these characters in the stories. We are drawn to their pain and want to help them, or we are angry at the villains who make their lives living hell. However, we rarely carry these same empathetic feelings to the real people in our lives.

When someone loses family, a part of them is gone too. When they lose other people, who are close to them, another piece of them is gone. Their friends become their family. When those friends become distant and life becomes too busy for friendship, that person loses the rest of themselves.

They essentially have turned from the sparkling gown of Cinderella and her glass slippers to the ragged, dirt-smeared face “orphan” that life has made them. They watch their friends go on with their lives as if they were never there. They dare not say anything because they no longer feel worthy enough to do so.

Once upon a time, they would have joined in the laughter and would be in that living room gathered with their chosen people. Now, they are the sad eyes and a red nose in the cold of winter looking into the windows of those living life around them.

Do not pity them now. It is too late. Where was your empathy in the 5th hour of their darkest time? Where were you when they shied away from that first gathering? Where were you when the hollow of their own head was the only thing that heard their sobs?

You were there, right next to them. You were just too busy. You just happened to be the one that tore their dress to shreds. You smeared that last swipe of grime on their face. Was it an accident or on purpose? It does not even matter now because it all blends together on their tear-stained face as they come to terms with their new identity.