As our workday drew to an end, Iris asked us to gather around her porch so that she could share a story. Freckled with white after a long day of painting, we listened with as much attention as we could muster. Iris began to tell us about a rough time when she couldn’t be home with her family for Christmas, and a woman walked into the beauty shop Iris was working in, and entered the room where Iris was pricing beauty products in the back of the shop. She asked Iris to help her find some shampoos. After finding suitable products for her blond tendrils, the woman asked her if she had found the lord. Iris immediately replied, "Yes, ma'am," and the woman said, "Oh I knew I had asked the right person. I have something for you." The woman handed her a bible, which Iris procured for us from under her arm as her story drew to a finish. She held it out to us and said, "So what do you think? Was she an angel?" We were all silent. I glanced at the faces of my peers, looking for their reactions, but was disappointed by their lack of intelligibility. She eagerly awaited our responses, but received none.
But I had one, although I was too afraid to share it with the group because I didn’t want to speak out of turn and potentially offend some one, as I have been known to do. So as we dispersed and prepared to leave, I remembered something that my grandmother told me on a recent trip to New Orleans when I was being somewhat difficult: "If you open up to people, they will open up to you back." And so I decided that she needed to know how much her story spoke to me. I said, "I just wanted you to know that my CCD teacher has always told me that when you need god the most, he will come to you. Your story has furthered my understanding of her words, and I am so grateful that you shared it with us." I was unsure how she would respond but was surprised in the best way when she began to cry and replied, "Oh I just know it was the lord with me. I needed him then and he came to me, and when I needed him now he brought me you." I was overcome with emotion and it finally registered with me what I had struggling to fully understand during this trip.
I had been questioning the value of our service to her and wondered if we could be doing more, and I finally understood what Shelly, the director of Appalachian Folk Life Center, had told us our opening night. She explained that even though it did not seem like these people were necessarily the most needy people, it takes time to understand their situations and the work we are doing is truly important. This experience with Iris where I overcame my fears and spoke to her from my heart really changed my entire perspective on this trip and I left the site that day sobbing, and filled with a new sense of hope and drive to work. It seemed that everything I have been learning recently about myself and about my relationship to others was integrated into one final lesson embodied by Iris. It's really true; if you open up to others, they will open up to you back, and I am so grateful for this experience.
-- Stephanie Spies '12
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