Life Saving Gift Born From A New Orleans Soul
I met a New Orleans native named Anisha and her friend for coffee while she was visiting Los Angeles. We reconnected over the city of New Orleans, a native New Orleanian who shares a love for the city as I have over the years. We had a progressive meeting and a thoughtful conversation drinking coffee at La Provence Patisserie in Beverly Hills.
We were very excited to see each other since we were reconnecting. You could hear our excitement in our greeting. Then all of a sudden, a white woman came over and scolded us saying, “You are too loud. This is a quiet place.” Immediately I answered, “Sorry, I’m just excited to see them.” Anisha was not as reticent about the situation as I had been and mentioned between us that other people were talking just as loud as we were, and asked why we were the target. Anisha is a woman from the Middle East, her friend is from Mexico, and here I am, an African-American.
To keep the peace, I was willing to overlook the racist sentiment, or the thought of racism in this white woman’s reprimanding of us as if that was even her duty to do so. But sometimes acts of love require deliberation. I am glad Anisha saw fit to discuss what happened more intently. Ignoring a problem does not make it go away. We needed to settle the situation in our own hearts so as not to harbor resentment but to respond in love.
We moved on. Anisha shared a beautiful story from her childhood when she was taking swimming lessons. During one of her swimming lessons, one of the students was struggling underwater, and the teacher was busy talking with someone else on the side of the pool and did not witness his student beneath the water. Anisha had already learned how to swim because she’s a quick learner, so she instinctively swam toward her friend and was able to lift her up above the water and save her life. Wow!
A seven year old saving the life of another child instinctively is no doubt an act of love. Anisha’s sentiment was, ‘I know how to swim. Oh, here’s someone who doesn’t, and she’s struggling underwater. I should go and help her.’ This is profound love, compassion at an early age. I feel as if I were to sit with Anisha longer and hear about other stories as she’s grown, maybe they wouldn’t seem so profound as saving a life, but I think the stories in her life would be about saving friendships, people, seeing something that needed to be saved, changed, or rearranged, and offering her skill as a responsibility of love from one human to another.
Oh, I was so happy to hear this child was rescued! I’m also very happy to know that this is not only a memory for the child, but for Anisha herself, as she remembers. As she grew older and understood what really happened beyond the cognition of age seven, she realized the magnitude of what she did, which continues to impact her life positively.
I would want Anisha to remember the love she has within her, which came out as a responsibility to save her classmate’s life. ‘Because I know how to swim, I need to share it with those around me and maybe the world.’ I wish she would treasure, protect and continue to shower the world with her love in the way God gave it to her as a very responsible individual.
As the coffee continued, the environment became livelier than when we first sat down at the table. When I arrived at La Provence, it was very quiet, no one was talking. I started taking pictures, setting up a tripod, and trying to get the best table. Now, as the conversation continued, I noticed that the joy of our meeting pervaded that Beverly Hills patisserie.
The three of us enjoyed each other’s company. We were able to move on despite the ridicule of being too loud in the beginning, and Anisha uplifted the atmosphere by sharing a story of salvation. Everyone started to talk and be happy and so loving, even at higher frequencies than ours, and there was no complaint in the end.
Love and Peace, Shirah Chante, Relationship Artist
P.S. If you enjoy these love stories with a tinge of faith, sign up on this page to stay connected.