Kristy Moua, Features Editor

She is a competitive, sensitive and compassionate soul.

Her laughter echoes the room after the children laugh,

Her willingness to play Uno or volleyball never goes unnoticed,

Her voice hums out melodies from church or she speaks of her own opinions of injustice,

Her heart is filled with undying love.

She will repeat things people already know,

But maybe in reality they need to hear it again.

She will pull out paper to for others to help her write letters to loved ones,

A traditional love letter rather than a text or phone call.

She has hugged many,

From tiny children to the elderly.

She has told many souls those three words others find so difficult to say.

Sometimes people who don’t know her treat her with such stiffness and uncertainty,

Hoping to not make a wrong move or say something wrong because she appears to be “different”.

Sometimes the stigma can be seen and sensed through people’s eyes and non-verbal cues.

Sometimes people will say something about her to another person right in front of her,

She can hear you and understand you. 

And you see,

She is still kind, empathic, conversational, makes mistakes, and has dreams.

She is my aunt.

She is human.

She is Maikou.

This article was originally published in the October 4, 2019 issue.