The Sky is Blue

I haven't been on here in a hot minute and I probably said the same thing in my last post... But right this second I feel so inspired to share this story that actually happened within the past hour.

I was a total wallflower during all of this, and it definitely had its perks.

(Please get my cheesy movie reference.)

I am in a three-hour long public speaking class with about 25-30 students and today, we each gave a "personal story" speech in front of the class. If you're interested, I told about the time I encountered a huge sting ray in the ocean in the Bahamas.

*interrupting to say this:

I get chills just thinking about how flawlessly this story fell together and that I was lucky enough to observe its happenings.

So, the presentations went in order by the groups we were assigned into. This guy got up to tell the story of how he figured out that he was colorblind. His parents took him to the eye doctor and that is when they received the news. Years later, he discovered a pair of sunglasses that are designed for people who are colorblind so that they can see colors--they only work outdoors. For the upcoming Christmas, that was the only thing he asked for as the glasses ranged anywhere from $300-$400. He, then, told us about the way he reacted when he first put them on and showed us his glasses (which look like a totally normal pair of sunglasses) and that was the end of his awesome story.

He sat down and the next girl (who was also in his group) stood up to tell her story.

She began telling us about when she was little (around age 6, I think) and she had to stay upstairs in her room while her parents were redoing their kitchen floor--putting new tiles down. When the floor was done, she ran downstairs to see, only to be disappointed by the new ugly brown floors. She said "Mom... why would you choose the ugliest brown tiles you could find?!" Her parents argued with her that the tiles were actually green... so, eventually, she went to the eye doctor as well to find that she, too, was colorblind! This is actually rare to find in females, because colorblindness is associated with the X chromosome. She had never heard of the sunglasses that the other guy had, though, so after she gave her speech, the teacher jokingly suggested trying on her group member's sunglasses when they leave class.

When class was over, I starting walking back down Chancellor's which is the huge walkway that all of our main campus halls are on. I overheard the conversation going on between a girl and a guy walking behind me and he asked her if she was ready... I heard that out of context, but quickly figured out the conversation and who the people were when I heard her gasp in amazement.

She said, "Oh my gosh, everything is, like, neon!!!"

"The grass is so green!"

"Is this how normal people really see?!"

Now, she wasn't actually expecting answers from this guy, because obviously he was in the same boat as her. I walked a little slower to them pass me... probably because I'm nosey, but at this point, I was intrigued by the two. This girl actually jumped in excitement and it took everything in me not to shed a tear (people would've seen me and thought I was nuts), but they were just so cute taking in the world around us.

She finally gave the glasses back to him and they made some small talk. He said he was heading to the gym (which was straight) and she was going back to her apartment (which was next to mine, off to the left). So, they said goodbye and went their separate ways and I happened to be going in the same direction as the girl.

As soon as they parted, she called her mom and said, "Mom! You will never believe what just happened!" and continued on with her story.

At this point, you might think I am the creepiest person ever, but the truth is, I am genuinely interested in other peoples' lives. I love gaining new perspectives and when the girl walked out of earshot, all I could think was, I cannot wait to write this down.

I couldn't imagine seeing the true color of everyday objects for the first time in my life, and today I got to hear this girl's reaction to that in person!

You've probably gathered that I became extra appreciative of my ability to see color, and I hope that you feel that same. But more importantly, I caught a glimpse of how they feel seeing what I see.

It's easy to get caught up in resenting things that we don't have or things we can't do that we forget to be thankful for the things we do have.

I feel extremely blessed, elated, and grateful to be in class with these people who have something a little different about them. They've reminded me to look at the sky and take in that beautiful dimensional blue.

And this is also a friendly little reminder to you all, so I hope you enjoyed!

xo, kristen