I was ten when Suzanne moved into the house down the block.
She had four young children, a warm laugh, and a way of listening that made you feel like you had said something important. Her home was the opposite of mine. There was music instead of shouting. Books open on tables. Dinner where people spoke gently to one another. She and her husband José moved around each other with ease, brushing hands in the kitchen, sometimes sharing a quiet kiss. He drank red wine from a porrón, tilting the glass vessel high above his mouth as it poured in a steady stream. I watched them the way other children watched television.
At home, anger could ignite without warning. I learned to make myself small. At Suzanne’s, I did not have to.
One afternoon I showed up in a brand new pair of Levi’s. They were stiff and unyielding, the denim sharp against my legs. Suzanne laughed and told me the fastest way to break them in was to roll in the mud.
I stared at her. Roll in the mud?
She dragged the hose into the backyard and turned dry dirt into a thick brown pool. “Go on,” she said, smiling.
I hesitated only a second. Then I lowered myself down and rolled. The mud soaked through the denim. It cooled my skin. I laughed — loudly, freely — as her children cheered me on. Suzanne stood there, delighted, as if this were the most natural thing in the world.
The jeans softened. So did I.
In Suzanne’s house, I learned what safety felt like.
It felt like the kitchen timer ticking at dusk, like a lullaby. Diet RC cans lined up on the counter before being put away. Children tucked into bed early and a house settling into quiet. Being fed without question. Being welcomed without explanation. Laughter that did not cost anything afterward.
Years later, when I told Suzanne what had been happening in my home, she said she had always sensed something. She did not need the details. She had simply made room.
Suzanne did not change my circumstances. She changed my understanding. She showed me that love could be calm, that joy could be messy and still be safe.
Once you know what safety feels like, you never forget it.
I first felt it rolling in the mud.