she sat silently

She sat silently in the back of the store. She saw us walk in and made her way up to the front of the store. The store wasn’t that long, but for her 70 something yr old legs it might have seemed as if she were walking for miles. There was a TV playing old re-runs of Law and Order at the front of the store. I don’t think I recognized the episode.

We started looking around at the jewelry that was reasonably priced when she greeted us with a soft hello. She offered to take anything we wanted out of the display case if we wanted a closer look. The store was old and needed new carpet. The display cases looked like something you find at the good will, but I was intrigued by this little old woman behind the counter.

I asked her, “the sign out front says all the jewelry is authentic indian jewelry. Is that true?” She smiled and said that everything was made by the local Indian culture. They even cut some of the stones themselves. “Oh?”, I said. She smiled and said, “Yes.”

I smiled back and said I wanted to look at some of the earrings on this little display. “I like the studs these days. The big earrings are kind of a hassle.” She unlocked the counter and brought out the display for me to rummage through. I looked at her face and saw many stories hidden behind her thick glasses and soft speech. I gathered this was a woman who had seen more in her whole life than I could ever imagine.

I asked her, “How much are these?” She flipped over the back to show me the price tag written lightly in pencil. She said, “All these go for $8 but, I’ll let you have it for $6.” I smiled and said, “I think I’ll get two pairs then.”

Her accent was thick and seemed to be from Mexico. She moved as quickly as she could, but it was slow and easy movements. She spoke mostly out of the left side of her mouth I noticed. Im not sure why. Her dyed, curly, black hair was beginning to show some gray roots. She dressed up for her shop, you could tell she took pride in what she wore and what she did. Her clothing out of date, but clean and pressed. Red skirt and jacket with a floral button up shirt.

I asked her, “Is this your shop?”
“Oh yes,” she said smiling.
“How long have you had it?”
“38 years.”
“Oh wow! That’s a long time. Are you from Ruidoso?” By now I was curious about this woman’s life here.
“Oh no, I’m from Las Cruces.”, she said as she continued to smile. Her accent so thick I almost wondered if she was lying or if maybe they had thick accents in Las Cruces.
“How did you end up in Ruidoso?”, I asked curiously polite.

She then proceeded to tell me a story about her life. I could only catch bits and pieces of it, but I was able to get the jest of it. Apparently she and her husband would travel a lot. They would live for a short time in different cities and then pack up and leave for a new state and city. This went on for several years until they ended up in Ruidoso. They liked it so much they stayed. She laughs at this last comment.

I wanted to ask her so much more. Is her husband still alive? Did she have any kids? Does she ever wonder what the future holds for her? But alas it was time to leave. The kids were restless and I didn’t want their moms to worry about them.

I ended up buying two pairs of earrings from her. Not because I needed the earrings but because I wanted to buy something from her. A gesture of sorts to say thank you for sharing her story with me, a complete stranger who obviously just touring the town she loves. I should have taken her picture to share, but I will always remember her face.


-hil

this is a true story about a woman i met while on vacation in ruidoso, nm in jan 2010.