Ali and Dana.
A sweet, loving couple I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know these last few months. Dana is a caring, selfless mother of seven who serves her family and community with immense grace and humbleness. She grew up in a small Alabama town, a place where people often didn’t cross county lines, let alone travel outside of the country. But, after she graduated from nursing school, Dana began going on mission trips to Central America, where she met Ali. A preacher and proud Nicaraguan, who is a bold, lion-hearted leader and advocate for social justice.
Anyone who knows them will quickly tell you about the undeniable love they have for one another, and when they are together, their mutual respect and admiration shines through. However, while speaking with them in my studio, I was surprised to hear that people often don’t recognize them as “looking” like a couple. Dana added that even when they’re out at a restaurant with their children, they’re still asked if they’d like separate checks. They both shared their sadness and confusion over the assumption. I began to wonder if I had ever experienced this in my own life and just never realized?
I read somewhere recently that we as humans scan, characterize, and label others within the first few seconds of meeting them. But how? And more importantly, why? And who makes up the rules for normalcy in ways of being? While I still haven’t come up with any answers and am unsure that I ever will, I will certainly be quicker to listen, and slower to judge after talking with these two.
A sweet, loving couple I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know these last few months. Dana is a caring, selfless mother of seven who serves her family and community with immense grace and humbleness. She grew up in a small Alabama town, a place where people often didn’t cross county lines, let alone travel outside of the country. But, after she graduated from nursing school, Dana began going on mission trips to Central America, where she met Ali. A preacher and proud Nicaraguan, who is a bold, lion-hearted leader and advocate for social justice.
Anyone who knows them will quickly tell you about the undeniable love they have for one another, and when they are together, their mutual respect and admiration shines through. However, while speaking with them in my studio, I was surprised to hear that people often don’t recognize them as “looking” like a couple. Dana added that even when they’re out at a restaurant with their children, they’re still asked if they’d like separate checks. They both shared their sadness and confusion over the assumption. I began to wonder if I had ever experienced this in my own life and just never realized?
I read somewhere recently that we as humans scan, characterize, and label others within the first few seconds of meeting them. But how? And more importantly, why? And who makes up the rules for normalcy in ways of being? While I still haven’t come up with any answers and am unsure that I ever will, I will certainly be quicker to listen, and slower to judge after talking with these two.