the gift

Leslie Graff

When I was in India, I had a woman who I saw during the first day of screening, and she was just such a beautiful woman.  And she was always smiling at us as we were getting ready throughout the day as we were working with different children... and I was just sitting there And I was so excited one day when I saw that she was on the surgery schedule. Her father was there with her, and we sat and talked for a while. And I came to visit this woman after surgery because she was 27-years-old and she had a unilateral cleft lip. It had been un-repaired her whole life. I wanted to give her something. She going to be discharged in just a few hours. What do I have? So I grabbed some money out of my wallet, and I went to give it to her. I said "I am so excited for you this is such an exciting day." And I gave her the money. And she was sitting on her bed and her husband was there and she just said "You are my sister, and I will never forget you for this." And she took out of her purse these gold earrings that were her wedding earrings that she was wearing the first day of surgery. And she put them in my ears. And I said that I can't take these. And her husband said "No. We would give you more, but this is all we have." And it was the hardest gift I ever had to accept in my life. But it was one of those beautiful moments, and I remember that tears were streaming down my face, and she was trying to wipe away my tears. But it's those moments when you realize that the gift that someone else is giving you is far more powerful than what your are giving to them. It's beautiful to see how people can come together to change the lives of other people.

Recommended>>