Do you know a woman so lovely that it nearly hurts to think about her? I am referring to someone for whom your heart aches. She may live just up the road a piece. Or she may reside miles away, or clean across the ocean. She may even be gone now. Perhaps she transcended, transitioned to another realm. Yet when you think about her, whenever you recall her loveliness, it is with joy, or with love, or a longing so great, that you nearly ache.

This ethnic beauty just might be your sweet --or maybe even ornery --gray-haired granny. Perhaps she raised her children, and everyone else's too. Today I ask you to remember her, recall her deeds, the things she did that she did not have to do. In thinking about her, you just may recall, she is quite possibly a woman so lovely it hurts.

Remember your abuela or any lovely Latina who instilled in you ferocious pride for your culture and costumbres. That particular mujere may believe, above all else, in la familia and matrimonio. She too can be a woman so lovely it hurts.

Recall the teacher who aided you over a learning hurdle, the neighbor who is never unwilling to help. Another oh-so-lovely woman can be Doda, your Hebrew aunt, or perhaps your sage African-American church mother, a den mother, or even the lunch lady. She could be your Japanese oneesan, or your Hawaiian soeur, all sisters. She could be the mehndi artist who readied and adorned beautiful brown you for matrimony. She could be the girlfriend who threw you the bing-dong-that-bum-is-gone divorce party. Another lovely woman could be your child's pediatrician, or the ever prompt female school bus driver.

She only has to be important to you. The woman so lovely it hurts only has to hold significance in your mind. If she does, if recalling her causes a smile, or bittersweet tears, then you know she's the one. If there is such a woman in your life; if she is yet around to hear, to see, to be cognizant, then do one thing. Let her know. Give her a simple hug, a card--maybe even one you created or wrote, or make her something else. You can also choose to take her somewhere, even if it would be to simply watch the sun rise. You can purchase something for her, if you would like, gifts can be nice. Calling on the phone can be just as wonderful. A loving voice from the past could make her day.

Whatever you do, don't lose precious time. Your words can be simple and few, but let her know. Verbalize how you feel, even if to do so you will have to speak...to the lovely lady...in the mirror.