Shorthand (Gabrielle)
I was recently talking to someone I don’t know that well for very long and I found myself having to say something once and then explain what I just said. I was a little puzzled, but the puzzlement didn’t last long because I have been becoming aware of the fact that I speak in shorthand. Even the statement “I speak in shorthand” is shorthand. I don’t always say everything that should go into a sentence. Or sometimes I make an intuitive jump and don’t explain it to anyone. I find it very nifty that I am just now realizing this fact. This is nifty because it means I normally interact with people who have made the effort to know me and understand me because they love me. They put in the effort and now we don’t have to say everything that gets said. I know our conversations sometimes look odd from the outside. I was having a conversation with Raquel and Moriah was watching us talk. She suddenly said in a frustrated voice, “Titi Gaby, I don’t understand what you two are talking about!” I explained to her that her Aunt Raquel and I were only saying about half of what was being communicated. I tried to explain that she wouldn’t understand because there was history that went into this conversation that she hadn’t been in on. Every now and then I remember to thank God for the group of friends He has given me. Getting weird looks from people who didn’t follow me where I went has been a good reminder. My friends love me and so they try to understand me. We are around each other enough and we actually listen to each other enough that I often find myself imitating someone. I’ll say something and Raquel will tell me that I sounded like Seth or James. It isn’t that I said something that they would have said; it’s that I said something they would say in the way they would have said it. There are nuances of the people we love that we pick up on if we actually pay enough attention to them to notice. There are conversations carrying history that get picked up as if we had never stopped. I don’t think most of the world has this joy. I don’t think the world sits still long enough to develop these relationships. I think there are people out there who speak in shorthand, but they don’t have anyone to interpret. I really feel for those people cause it can be a very lonely place to live. Maybe I’ll find them and interpret for them until we all get to the point of understanding them. I have been so blessed in my friends I want to give that joy to someone else. Though if I actually express this desire to God I will probably be suddenly swamped with lonely people. Well, that’s life I guess.