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Brooke Shelnutt
9/30/12
WRTG 1310 (1077)
Profile Essay
Lillian Leyer Henriquez
Cindy’s house is not hard to find. As you drive up to it, the first thing you notice is the
front door, which is framed by a huge triangular overhanging that is part of the roof. Like a
magician’s illusion, you would never know by looking at the outside, but the house actually has
an upstairs. The yard is very steep and at the height of summer it can almost feel like a hike to
get to the top. The outside of the house is surrounded by bushes that hide the bottoms of the tall,
skinny windows in a style that screams ‘the sixties.’ A swarm of cats have laid claim to the
surrounding block and they like to leave tell-tale sign of their presence by little paw prints
littering your car’s windshield. As I open the front door I am always greeted by Loco, the
family’s pit bull that could almost trade places with Scooby doo, as he unleashes a giant
inescapable sneeze right into my crotch area.
“Locooooooooo!!!!!” I yell out of annoyance and love.
“BRRRRRROOKE!!!” yells Cindy’s mom as she rolls her ‘r’s.
I first met Cindy’s mom when Cindy brought me home after school one day. Cindy had
warned me that her mom was paralyzed and I did not quite know what to think. However, I was
welcomed with an open heart.
As I walk into Lillian’s room, the first thing that meets my eye is her hospital bed. She is
paralyzed from the neck down, but has some limited movement in her arms. Her stomach is very
rounded due to improper digestion and inability to exercise. Usually she will have a computer
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sitting in her lap while she either shops online for her family and friends, takes online college
classes, Skypes some on the many people she keeps in touch with especially those in Honduras,
or keeps track of the family’s expenses. She and Manuel, her husband, have a special
understanding: she takes care of the family’s finances for him while he works overseas most of
the year as a pilot to help support the family. The time apart has brought them closer together,
but they still talk on Skype several times a week.
Irma had been a family friend before the accident but afterward she became a very
understanding and loyal sister to Lillian. The Henriquez’s hired her to help tend to Lillian
everyday but she is also an invaluable family member.
“Life is amazing. You never know who you are going to find that can be your hands,
your feet.”
Lillian soon realized that Irma did not even know the alphabet or basic mathematical
functions because she had been taken out of school at an early age. She started tutoring Irma in
math and language which are valuable assets to her life and has expanded her capabilities in
interacting with the world around her. She is always talking up a very frenzied Spanish-gibbering
storm to Lillian and they will burst out laughing as they look at someone in the room. Irma
always has some new Latino dish to cook. She’ll find something to laugh at especially if it’s at
your expense. She cleans the house, gives Lillian a bath, brushes her teeth and does other
miscellaneous chores.
Mary Sue is one of Lillian’s friends. She comes over to pray with her as they cultivate
their faith. As Mary Sue brings over a special home cooked meal or new cooking experiment,
they like to plot adventures together. A couple years ago, they met early in the morning while
Cindy was at school, and redecorated her childish room from unicorns and rainbows, to a mature
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young lady’s room, complete with a new paint job, classy, glass shelving for her perfumes, and a
large Picasso reminiscent style painting above her bed as well as other framed inspiring poems
and pictures. When Cindy got home, she habitually walked to her mom’s room first, as Lillian
tried to contain her excitement; Cindy turned around and saw that something, just across the hall,
was different about her room..
Since Cindy has left for college, Nina, Manuel’s cousin, has come from Honduras to live
with and help Lillian. Nina speaks limited English and stays in Cindy’s sister, Nancy’s old room,
next door to Cindy’s room and cattycorner from Lillian’s. Nancy’s old room is very similar to
how Cindy’s old room used to look. Mary Sue and Lillian are planning another surprise to
redecorate Nina’s room to make her feel more at home.
“This is the real story; this is what real life is like.”
When asked, she explains that the small things in life keep her positive and she is
thankful. Her face lights up when she talks about the simple joys she now cannot help but notice.
She likes to make her life into a fairytale-esque scene; where she sings to birds that flit by her
window and watches the humming birds enjoy their feeder outside the kitchen window. In her
room, when no one is home, her outdoor friends are cats rubbing up against the house or arguing
chipmunks that she sees through the windows, they give her a daily chuckle as she waits for
people to start coming home either from a long day at work or school or to wake up and eat
lunch with her. Even though she cannot physically go places by herself or without much hassle,
she can still keep on keeping on by expanding her knowledge to help others and to grow
spiritually.
Lillian’s head moves back as her eyes touched the ceiling as if to ask it, “How long has it
been since the accident?”
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“Cindy was 12, Nancy was 16 and Jan was 25. So it’s been 7 years since the accident.”
After she became quadriplegic, she understood more about her own basic needs in how
she now could not even take care of herself on her own at all. But on the flip side, she realized
how valuable she is as herself and what she is doing for others. Lots of people rely on her, not
only her family but also the immigrants she helps in other countries.
Lillian grew up in Holland. Her dad was a government diplomat to Central America from
Holland. Her family was very well off and as she puts it, she was one “set silver spoon.”
(Cindy’s family always has crazy sayings that they always claim everyone says. I’m sure nobody
even says those things though.) As a result, she got to travel a lot at a young age. She met
Manuel, who is a professional pilot, in an airport. Her job before she was paralyzed was working
with in the immigration system. Now she is continuing her education and studying criminal law
online. Her next step will be to study immigration law, so she can help disadvantaged people
especially in and around Central America and Honduras, to become legal U.S. citizens and to
have a better life. She does not support illegal immigration, only hardworking people. She wants
to help bring good opportunities to others, so they can help their family. She has visited
Honduras many times and witnessed first-hand: the poor living conditions, police corruption,
crime, (gang/drug cartel) violence and low income jobs to unemployment. [Recently we were
devastated to hear that Irma’s son, who lives in Honduras, was robbed and shot in the back. As
he tried to crawl away, he was shot two more times before he died.] She is very determined and
passionate about what she describes as her mission.
Lillian has always had a passion for horses and an understanding of animals. She used to
help care for horses and other animals at the animal shelter. Their family horses were rescued
from abused families. The only time she ever fell off a horse was also the last time she would
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ever be on one. The first person to be Lillian’s hands and feet was a man who was driving down
a road and was synchronistically in the right place at the right time and saw Lillian’s horse spook
and buck her over his head and onto her neck in a horrifying mid-air summersault. He had to
have been an angel sent by God, as he ran up the hill to them and called an ambulance. He
comforted Cindy and her mom as they waited for the paramedics and even rode to the hospital
with them until her family arrived. It was difficult that year. Her hospital bills were 160,000 and
her insurance had good coverage but even then it was only 80%. Now whenever you mention
horses in her house, her face instantly glows with vivacious memories of many hours spent with
horses, “oh yes!” As if to follow that joy, she becomes more contrite when she explains, “Cindy
used to ride... She loves horses.” Cindy has not ridden ever since.
Lillian loves and is so grateful for Cindy. She chuckles as she says that sometimes she
will call her name in the middle of the night just to hear her voice, or to get her to stay with her.
She admires Cindy for all that she has put up with in school and her perseverance. Cindy acts
like a daughter on the surface and sometimes laughs at her mom’s misunderstandings of our
youthful world or gets frustrated with everyday things, but there is a depth and strength to their
bond that is inspiring to say the least. She makes Cindy feel at home by welcoming her and
having dinner together, catching up and being supportive.
I like to imagine that their family’s souls made a ‘contract’ with each other to learn and
grow together in a family unit. Cindy has a profoundly positive impact on each of her family
members. She has taught her family new aspects of love through their relationships with her and
as a role model. This has catalyzed Lillian’s evolution along with her accident. Before her
accident she was fighting with Manuel and was not as present or as involved with her kids as she
is now. Behind devastating accidents lie the opportunities for people to transform it into uplifting
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experiences. Lillian has learned more about others and is more conscious of them as they work
intimately together as hands, feet, and voices.
Lillian before and after