(1150) Against all odd

Five years ago I met Heidi through a contact. Off and on my son and I have been meeting her since.
She went through a very traumatic childhood. She was mildly dyslexic. Up until Standard Five she used to fail most subjects. Yet she is sharp and intelligent in other ways. Her parents noticed that she could memorise every song on the radio if it was played often. To prepare for her Primary exam, the persistent and wise mum read every page of her text books aloud to her. Since questions were in the
multiple choice objective form, she somehow managed to score 5 As. To me, that means she could recognise the shapes of many words. Never mind the fact that she could hardly read and could not spell.

She belongs to a minority race. There are only thirteen professionals of her ethnic background practising in the state of Sarawak. She is THE FIRST WOMAN FROM HER TRIBE to own a firm in her hometown. I was very impressed. It must have been a difficult and tedious path to breach
an invisible barrier in a back water area.

To reach her present mile stone, she had been on training in multiple places and God had been stretching her since she qualified. She practised for many years in the capital city of the country. After that she returned to the capital of Sarawak, not of her own choice. But she managed to have 15 happy years there. Then, out of the blue, she was left with no choice but to relocate to her home town - a place that she has decided not to return to since she has left it. She cried, she pleaded with her heavenly father. But to no avail. It was a non-negotiable. It was a place of her most horrific nightmare. She had not only unhappy years but to add salt to the wounds, she was systematically bullied in the school system. When I first met her, she was very thin - steadily losing weight. It was within the first three years she returned to her least desirable place on earth. This is the 5th year since we knew each other. Finally I saw her in her element and the tinge of deep sadness is gone. It must have been difficult. Yet she needed to face her demons and to gain a full victory from her dark past.