Geraldine Lee was not the prettiest, nor the smartest, nor the wittiest girl around. She was merely kind, thoughtful, meek and happy. Not exactly award-winning characteristics in anybody's book. With characteristics like that, she would never have been a heroine in a Jane Austen novel, or star beside Johnny Depp in any pirate movie.
But Geraldine was a dreamer, and one of her dreams was to rise up out of her mediocre trade school beginnings and be counted among the foreign educated academics in society. And she was only 2 months away from her goal when her body was found in her room in faraway Brisbane, 3 days after her heart stopped beating its song of love and compassion.
My path crossed with Geraldine's when I auditioned for the Short Film Competition that she was entering 3 years ago. She finally selected me to be the evil witch in the film, and gave me her carefully drafted script like she was handing over the Holy Grail. Geraldine had the confidence to enter a competition with just a script and a dream, and the humility to allow her actors to tell her how to shoot it.
We didn't win. Maybe if we stopped micromanging, we might have.
Geraldine is a heroine alright. She had courage, determination, tenacity and an incredible force of will. All the traits that take us beyond existence to living.
Goodbye, Geradline. You spent your last days doing what you wanted most, and that makes your death a happy one. For you, at least. I hope at some point, we realise it as well.
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