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Birthdays
July 13th, 2010. Published under Uncategorized. 1 Comment.
No matter how long I’m here, I’m still amazed at the joy people get out of the simple things in life, the things I have taken for granted most of my life.
Last night I went with my good friend Robinah to one of the youth homes for a birthday party. One of the girls was turning 17 and we wanted to go and make her feel special and celebrate with them. We had a simple meal of matooke (plantains), rice and beans and then birthday cake we had brought. The cake was a surprise, so when the girls saw us walk in with it they celebrated like you thought they had won the lottery. They were jumping, screaming and hugging everyone because they had a cake. Later in the night Robinah gave the birthday girl a few simple gifts (a plastic alarm clock and a coffee mug). When she opened her present and saw the clock and mug, she smiled brighter and wrapped Robinah in a huge hug with more joy than I’ve ever shown for the hundreds of presents I’ve had in my life.
I sat there observing the inexplicable joy these kids experienced through something I considered so small, a cake and a few small presents. I’ve received and given gifts amounting to probably 100 times the “worth” of her gifts, and yet never received or given with as much love as I experienced last night.
I write all this with the conviction of comparing mac books vs. mac book pros for several hours, preparing to make a purchase I won’t value half as much as she valued her coffee mug…