The 2%

My eyes are light green with flecks of yellow in the iris.  People have told me that my eyes are mesmerizing. Some people have told me that they can see my eyes from across a room. It's just something I was blessed with...…..or maybe cursed? :)

As a child, my mother told me that it was a sure sign that I was full of "diarrhea". Thanks, mom!
At school, the other children mercilessly teased me, calling me a vampire. Outside, during recess, my eyes turned yellow in the sun.

So, yeah, it made me very self conscious. It made me loathe my green eyes. Everyone else had blue eyes or brown eyes, then, there was ……….me.
It made me shy, timid, ashamed of my eye color. I was more quiet, then, afraid to speak up unless I absolutely had to.
When I went to BMT, then Tech School for the USAF, I gained a bit more self confidence, I could forget about my hideous eyes.

The very first time I remember feeling that the color of my eyes was not a curse was when I was at my first military assignment.
Hickam AFB, Hawaii. 
Lots of sunshine! 
Lots of opportunity to be labeled a vampire.
After gaining self confidence, finding my voice, it no longer mattered.

There was a guy (always a guy! lol!) who was so hot, so confident,
so...everything....he was way out of my league, I knew it! Hot guys like him wouldn't even consider green eyed girls like me.
Still.....
Every time he was near me, I would shake like a leaf in a strong wind! Just looking at him was all I could do, his charisma was white hot!
His job in the USAF was Pararescue. At the time, I didn't know much about what a high caliber a man had to be, to be in that career field.
All I knew was that I felt his charisma, his magnetism that drew me to him and made me feel so nervous & scared around him.
Joel.
His name was Joel.
That's all I will say about his identity out of respect for him.

With just 4 words, he swept my shame about my eye color away.

In the 4 words he uttered, he erased my many episodes of shame.

I was in the Hickam AFB BX when I noticed many of the women acting differently. 
Yep, he was there. He had that effect on most women. He had that much je ne sais pas that the feeling in the air changed in his presence.
I definitely felt it.
I went into an area of the BX, away from where he was, like a scared little bunny, trying to escape.
He found me.
In the horizontal gap, with the aisle separating us, he was peering at me.
"OH! Jesus, please save me." I thought, in an earnest plea.

I walked down the aisle as he matched my steps, peering at me. I tried to avoid his gaze. Finally, I looked directly at him. He slowly curved his mouth into a smile, I'm not sure if he knew the effect he had on me, or maybe he did. 
Then, he wiped my shame from years of insults away with 4 words.
In a low, guttural ,while still smooth, voice he said:
"Pretty green eyes! MMMM"
My heart was pounding, then, he walked away.

Most likely, he doesn't remember doing this or maybe he does.
It was a pivotal moment for me.


It may sound silly, it meant a lot to me.

With those 4 simple words, something inside me lifted.

From that event to present day, I learned to embrace my green eyes.

HEY!

It isn't easy, being green.


For your consideration:
(You might have to copy & paste.)

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/only-two-percent-of-the-worlds-population-have-this-trait/ar-BBT3LTR?ocid=spartandhp