Maria Luzia

Have you ever met someone and loved them instantly?

Emerson tells me this happens to him occasionally and I think it's a spectacular phenomenon. It happened to me when I arrived at my great grandma's house (yes, the swing house!) I thought I knew everyone that lived and worked in the house already, but I'm so glad I really didn't. When we entered my great-grandma's home, we gave our big hugs and a million kisses, laughed, and even cried. After we exchanged our love-filled greetings, I saw a little blonde girl come out from one of the rooms. She instantly came and hugged my mom, and then me. Maria Luzia. I instantly fell in love with Maria Luzia.

She is an eight-year-old girl who Tia Maria Ercilia (remember her from The Swing Series?) is taking care of. Her mom died when she was two and her dad works long hours at the farm. He isn't able to take care of her as much as an eight-year-old girl needs, so my great aunt does the job--and does it pretty well. She lives in the swing house with my family and her dad comes to see her sometimes at night. They go to church together on Saturday and he takes her to the doctor when she needs to go, but everything else is taken care of by my great aunt. She participates in our family devotionals and goes to sleep on a mattress on the floor right next to Tia Maria Ercilia. Sometimes, she falls asleep with earphones in her ear that are connected to a cell-phone that doesn't work. Oh, but she loves that cell phone. She types away giggling, sending messages to her aunts and cousins that she doesn't see as often but loves so much. She even showed me a hilarious "message" that her cousin sent her and asked me to excuse her so she could focus on messaging back. This was all on the phone that doesn't work. Her imagination and creativity, however, was working prettyyy well to me.

Maria Luzia is the sweetest, most caring, most loving person I have ever met. She hasn't had an easy life, and she's only had eight years of it. Even through her unlikely circumstances, Maria Luzia smiles and laughs and enjoys and loves. She is a child, but wise and mature beyond her years. She talks with so much emotion and has very passionate facial expressions. She loved to go through my iPhone and look through my pictures. Her favorite pictures were the ones I took of farms on the drive to the swing house. "Nossa, que lindo," she would exclaim, gasping and marveling at the beauty of the world. She also loved to take pictures on my camera and would always find an opportunity to ask me to do so. She is a great friend. She accompanied my brother on his many adventures, and also defended him when my mom would yell at him. When they finished eating, she would ask him if he was done and take his plate into the sink and rinse it off. I watched her care for and enjoy the company of my brother and I fell in love even more. She told me she wanted to come back to the United States with us, but not to live because her dad would be upset. I really hope that one day she can come and spend some time here with us and spread more of her precious love.

Maria Luzia is absolutely beautiful---on the outside, but also, and more importantly, on the inside.

There is so much more I could write, but this could end up becoming a novel. I'm extremely thankful for being able to have met such a joyous, strong, exceptional girl and am looking forward to the next time I see her.

Here are some pictures I feel honored to have taken of my dear and beautiful friend, Maria Luzia.