An Anecdote of Mary

Written by Shaun Williams: a talented artist with a strong heart, an incredible imagination, and exciting career opportunities ahead of him. This was a simple class assignment, but I liked it so much I wanted to put it on here.

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Mary Bocks is fierce and passionate. She brings new meaning to the worn-out term "sight-seeing." Not only does she travel, but she does things that most people don't. She goes off the beaten path. With her chestnut brown hair and hopeful smile, she looks off the edge of the cliff. To jump? Not exactly. She stares down at the brilliant sea to appreciate God's beauty ... his landscape. God makes Mary who she is, her flaws and all. After all, God created her, and for that she is indebted to him. As she speaks about God, I can see how much she loves him; how much she confides in him. In our society, nature and God are the ultimate paradox. But to this traveling brunette, they are inextricably linked.

And it's not just coastlines that strike her fancy, but a vast desert as well. She ventured over one- the ground was thirsty, cracking from lifelessness and destitution. But Mary Bocks was far from dead. She was alive there. She pushed herself to the limit, both physically and emotionally. Her mom was with her; her companion. Both women journeyed into the unknown, not knowing where they were going. However, what they learned was priceless. For Mary, she discovered how far she has come. That even though life, like that desert, has its share of mirages, she will not lose her way; she will find her way through them, no matter what.

"Looking back, I realized how much progress I've made in my life." Those are Mary's words, not my own. They might sound plain or cliche to the uninitiated, but to somebody that knows her, they are much more than that. They stem from the sheer excitement she gets from seeing new things; the euphoria she experiences in being a nomad. Mary has a lot of positive attributes that I can illuminate- she is hungry, passionate, open-minded, head strong, positive, and hopeful.

I learned a lot about Mary- simply from her relaying her experiences in California. What can a trip tell us about someone? Well, if you've been listening to me at all-everything. 

Mary's greatest attribute, however, is that her home is wherever she is. Her address is the world, and as long as that is the case, she could never really lose her way. She will always know where she belongs- by the things she sees, the people she meets, and the God that she believes in.