J u ly / A u g u s t 2 0 1 7 9 5 L’Esprit de L’Escalier Meaghan maurice Bright Soul By Rhea Côté Robbins A true friendship transcends time and circumstance. D arrell was that guy in high school nobody noticed. A lone fig- ure in a white shirt, black pants, pocket pen protector–a stand-in for one of the Blues Brothers. If he were noticed, it was only to be bullied to the point that he ran from the building at the end of the day. At that time, I’d stand there, an invisible observer, watching him escape. By grad- uation, Darrell had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. I didn’t see Darrell for a long time after high school, 10 years in fact, when the inevitable high school reunion sent our classmates spinning back into each other’s orbits. Darrell attended in his wheel- chair, sitting on the edge of the festivities, still an outsider. Being an introvert, I joined him. It was the perfect class reunion hide- out. We chatted, exchanged addresses, and began corresponding regularly, writing let- ters as people once did before the advent of email. We wrote back and forth for 10 years or more. He lived in a full-time care facili- ty—a bright spirit, shining from his hospi- tal bed. Let me make an analogy, if I may. Franco-American culture, long bullied and cast aside, has often caused people to run away from themselves or from the en- vironment where they are mistreated and misunderstood. A kind of perpetual high- school environment of isolation and self- doubt. Darrell was of Franco-American heritage and suffered from a degenerative disease, but he transcended the obstacles in his path. Darrell persisted in being who he was–despite harassment or his illness. This willingness to be present and accept- ing of who you are takes enormous cour- age and determination. Often, we of the Franco-American heritage deny ourselves the opportunity to know our true selves. We miss out on the best part of our lives, unwilling to know our own strengths. Darrell was different. He inspired oth- ers, blooming from the confines of his wheelchair or hospital bed for a long, long time. He was also a writer, writing sto- ries until he could no longer hold a pen, then later dictating them out loud. If one is to measure friends, Darrell was a very good friend to me. He was dealt a difficult hand, but he never faltered in his poten- tial to give back. A true inspiration. n RheaCôtéRobbinsistheauthorof‘downthePlains,’and editorofHeliotrope-FrenchHeritageWomenCreate.