I Would Be Grateful . . .

If I were to utter those words, it would be a lack of gratitude and still I whisper them inside. I would… if only… one more thing…

She beams and gushes, stumbling over the words, tucking greying whisps beneath her veil. “I would be SO grateful, if they, for them, to find, jobs, here, America.”  She tells of school now and a hard life then. Iraq, she says, does not have what we do. “No jobs. Not school.”

She can’t believe I will take her picture. “For free? For me? How do I look?” she asks. Beautiful I tell her, so beautiful. She blushes and apologizes for teeth and veils, tries to explain dentists and traditions with gestures and words few between.

How can I tell her how beautiful her smile is, how much her beauty has blessed me. Beauty full of hope after years of hardship – what could be more ravishing? Gratitude expressed for what might be  – I hope with her and am taught by her . . .

This post is part of my We the Grateful Photo Project.