I traveled thousands of miles to a land I never imagined to meet her. Her dark brown eyes stared at me from a timid face. She was Leydi Pena Chavez, and she was going to marry my son. I had never dreamed of going to Peru- it had not been on my radar, but this land, this girl- it changed me!
She carried her iPhone to use google translate to communicate with me. I fumbled to use my mine. Somehow we managed. We had one great thing in common- we both loved him... we both loved Seleck. We made it work.
I smiled a lot on that trip, and I tried to used my broken French to speak Spanish. It didn't work, but there were certain Spanish words that shared similar bases with French. It helped me figure out what was going on... kind of.
Leydi had to grow up young. She had to learn to be resilient. I watched her in awe. Her home and surroundings humbled me.
Together, we discovered parts of her country she had only dreamed of. I watched the two of them quietly. Young love possesses urgency, and for these two especially.
Love, language and land brought them together, but it also separated them. We left not knowing when we would return. Thankfully, four months later we came back with a visa in hand.
As we boarded the plane, Travis looked back at the "love birds, " and said, "I think we are taking home the best part of Peru."
Fast forward four years and Leydi has grown as a woman, wife, and soon to be mother. Ever courageous, she learned the English language, earned her Associates Degree from the university, worked various jobs, supported Seleck (in so many ways) as he obtained his Master's Degree and then passed the CPA exams.
Now, in just eight short weeks she and Seleck will become parents to baby girl. I will become grandma.
As I hold her in my arms that first time, I will remember the browned eyed timid girl in Peru , and I will understand that Love is the only language that matters.