Yesterday was a day for hand kissing. I woke up relatively early for a Saturday to tackle the dishes I had spread over every surface of the kitchen in the last few days, the residue of cooking furiously and then rushing off to a social event.
It was really beautiful out yesterday. Bright blue skies, a cool breeze. The Khamsini, dust wind, of earlier in the week had blown away and the subsequent cold front and hail storm was almost unimaginable. As I walked down the hill to catch my first taxi of the day I enjoyed the empty lots of grass and wild flowers and people’s gardens full of roses.
After wondering around a bit when I got out of my taxi I found the Sister’s of Mercy’s House of Peace. I was meeting some students from the East West program I work with to spend some time with the adults with disabilities who live there.
Two highlights. One was getting to hold the hand of a girls whose body was kind of scrunched and she couldn’t talk…Ibut she was soo thrilled to have someone sitting and interacting with her in a small way. At first she started laughing hysterically which was kind of frightening and after a while she calmed down some and started kissing my hand which was gross since she couldn’t close her lips. But she was SO happy. And it was such a tiny tiny thing I was doing for her, crouching next to her chair and holding her hand. I’m pretty sure it’s the happiest I’ve made anyone all week and maybe all month. I hope it works out to go back.
The other cool thing was that it was the first time doing any type of community service for one of the guys who came with us. He was really affected by the people he met. As an architecture student he immediately wanted to give more of his unique gifts to make the building nice for the people there with a mural. It’s so exciting to see people interact, especially with people very different than them and the journeys that we go on!
That afternoon I was with the whole group of East West students at the monthly training we put on and a senator came to speak to us. He used to be in television and had a wonderful voice and story telling style. He was sharing stories of his own humble style of leadership and shared about when he kissed to hand of the pope as an act of respect, to the confusion of many of his country men — was he changing religions? No, he shared, just respecting one of the most honored men in the world. As an illustration. He kissed my hand.
So I had my hand kissed by an out cast from society and one of it’s most honored members in the same day.
*If you’ve been checking this blog and I haven’t been posting, I’m really sorry! It’s so hard for me to squeeze this in, but I’m trying to reach my goal of posting weekly!
We’re celebrating Easter here today. HAPPY EASTER!