listening

LISTENING

I was sitting in the dining room. My sisters were around me. Two girls were talking about a party they went to last weekend. It wasn’t a good experience for one of them. I didn’t know that. One sister was on the phone talking to her mom. She was talking about one of her classes, and how she was worried about her grades. Two girls were eating popcorn and laughing about an episode of Big Bang Theory they had just seen. One sister was talking quietly to her boyfriend. I couldn’t hear that conversation at all. Eve, the house mother was asking one sister if her day had gotten any better. I didn’t know she was even having a bad day. I realized by sitting there quietly listening to my friends how much I didn’t know about them, and how much I learned by just listening.