All my life I have believed in service, in doing something for someone without expecting anything in return, just for the sake of making a difference in a person’s life even if just for a fleeting moment. I learned early in life that one of the greatest satisfactions come from service and I tried to teach that to my kids since they were very young: being aware of people who need help, lending a hand to an old person, acknowledging the homeless on the street, sharing what we have with those who don’t.
But this didn’t come to me from heavenly inspiration, it came from my parents and my family, who day after day taught me by example. The day before Christmas we used to get together at my grandparents house to make gift baggies for poor children who would come at the door asking for a a coin or a piece of bread. We filled the baggies with candy, chocolates, cookies… the things kids like to eat once in a while, and we were also expected to have a box ready with toys we didn’t want to play anymore, and that were in good working order, and also clothes we didn’t need anymore (previously washed and ironed). I never knew who was happier: the kid who got the present or me when I saw the smile in the kid’s face.
I was also taught to not be disgusted by homeless or repulsed by handicapped people… my mom used to bring home street kids and give them a bath the same way she did to us when we were little, she then made sure their hair looked good and dressed them up with clothes that didn’t fit us anymore, but were in perfect condition nevertheless. We didn’t keep receipts to claim “charity deductions” from our taxes; charity is not supposed to be rewarded, it’s something you do in a quiet and inconspicuous way just for the sake of giving back to life and being thankful to God for all the blessings we have.
My family, and especially my mother, gave me something that made me who I am and put a totally different value to life than the one given by many people who go through it looking at themselves or just to what is pleasant to the eyes; to many who have develop a blind eye for reality because it can be “disturbing” and “inconvenient.”
I hope my kids will never turn their heads to the other side when they see the opportunity of serving, the opportunity of giving back… when they see themselves into a lesser person and do something to make their life, for a moment, a bit better.