"The girl in the sundress"

The girl in the sundress 
By:
Virgilio F. De leon Jr.

     There is this girl in my office. She looks normal enough , she looks like she can blend in with the crowds only she doesn't actually blend in. it is kind of hard to ignore the crutches , the above the knee dresses and the stump that is her right leg. Cut above the knee the stump usually rests on one of the high legged chairs that we have in the pantry. 

     I often see her talking to a bunch of people and I can’t help but be a bit bothered by her leg, it’s either that or her obviously very high cut dresses. I often wonder why she chooses to wear these sun dresses. My wife told me that maybe she was used to the dresses and that it was actually a far easier type of clothing to wear. I saw the point in that. 

    I also suspected that this happened to her just recently, that she has lost this leg from some accident. I learned the sad truth from a friend, she did figure in an accident that took her right leg from her. As it turns out she was on a team building in Batangas. They were on their way back when the side of the vehicle where she was sitting at got struck. She initially didn't lose the leg but due to complications she decided to have it cut. I can only imagine how hard that decision was for her, to survive an accident only to be maimed for life. How brave she must have been to continue working and facing everyday without her leg. 

    I know of the phantom pain that severed limbs can cause and she must still suffer through that. It made me feel pathetic to be affected whenever I saw her leg. Was I so petty that I was blinded by my own discomfort that I didn't see the brave front that this person was putting up every day and the resolve that she had in her to continue with her everyday life, one day at a time with her stump, crutches, and dresses. I looked inside myself and found that there is something there. A brave soul that is unafraid and I resolved to be something as brave as this person can be.