Thelma, the 17-year-old maid who works in the house I'm living in stopped me the other day in the kitchen to tell me she loved the color of my eyes. I came back to the house today and told Thelma I met someone that put my eyes to shame. This woman was on the edge of central park, which is the center of Antigua, begging for change. I was rushing to meet someone when my eyes met hers and i was floored. They were this haunting blue. They struck me after being lost in a sea of brown every day. I walked around the block just to get enough courage to ask her if I could take her photograph. She was so small and delicate i was afraid her hands would break when I took them in mine.

She had this light inside her, like she knew a secret the rest of us didn't. I looked at her and wondered how hundreds of people could pass by her every day and not want to know her story.

She let me sit with her and I couldn't help but feel honored. - Jessie