FORGIVING A DRUNKEN MANIAC

Xitclalli 'Chilli' Vasquez was a normal nine year old until a drunken driver collided with the car she was in. Chilli was left paralyzed from the waist downwards as a result of the crash. Yet the cheerful nine year old displayed an outstanding sense of forgiveness and its power to heal and restore, when she wrote a letter packed with emotion and forgiveness to the man who robbed her of a normal life.

Chilli’s letter brought tears to the eyes of the jury and the perpetrator as well – demonstrating once again that those who have the capacity to forgive also has the ability to recover faster emotionally and move on.

Chilli’s letter runs into four pages and is titled ‘From One of your victims' – she states how it was yet another normal day for her and she was going to the mall with her sister to get her hair cut and her nails done. That was all she remembered.

She spent several days in the ICU, unable to move her legs – “I had to use my thumb to answer yes or no. She talks of the pain of being fed through tubes and how the experience of learning you are never going to use your legs again, can devastate you.

Open our eyes

"There were times that I would cry and cry…in therapy they showed me how to lift myself and dress myself. But right now it's still very hard. My mom does a lot for me but I try myself. There are days that I cry because I can't do what I used to. Well, I could keep going but my hand is getting tired. I would like you to meet me and my family…there are days that are bad because I have a hard time getting around. "

Chilli’s dream is to walk again. She has found power in forgiveness and has been able to deal with the trauma of having to face a bleak future. She presents all of us with a lesson that should open our eyes. How can you forgive someone who caused you so much pain – you can. Not because of him but because if you don’t forgive, the bitterness of holding on to a grudge can destroy your soul from within.

Chilli Vasquez. Picture courtesy: Supplied

Chilli told media she hoped that the man who knocked her down would respond to her letter. She said it would make her happy if he said sorry – some may scoff at the idea but the spirit of forgiveness can transform people and leave its fragrance.

Remarkable forgiveness

It is not going to be easy for Chilli and her family to deal with her handicap – but the remarkable forgiveness displayed by this young girl should lighten all our hearts.

There is soothing, healing power in forgiveness. As often cited, those who have been able to forgive their tormentors in the concentration camps of World War II were the ones able to recover faster than others who chose to live their pain, their bitterness of being hurt, long enough to physically and mentally suffer from all that collected hatred.

Forgiveness is one powerful quality we can never practice enough of - whatever religious background we come from. We need to find its power and its capacity to transform victims into victors, merely by trading the pain of being hurt and wronged for the joy of being set free.

In today's world of selfish ambitions and me-me culture, forgiveness is all so often a difficult step for most, considering how much they have been betrayed or hurt.

Yet forgive we must for it is only in forgiveness that there is power for us to move on.