Only 3 kids came along with me to church this morning. That is an all time low but some were sick, others were grounded and a few went to another church with some friends. (I have to let you know that I sat behind Dick and the boys for the entire worship service before Dick realized I was there. Either he was really involved in worship, or. . .)
After church Pat joined us for some pizza (I felt like I was back in the days when my 4 kids would fight over the last piece of pizza. Oh, and the boys almost grossed me out when they put ketchup on their Hawaiian pizza. I thought I had a pretty strong stomach, but that nearly did me in!) then we bought 2 cakes and headed over to Olga's house for a birthday party. Olga turned 15 today and here in Guatemala that is usually a big event in a girl's life. Often times the girl's family throws a party that resembles a wedding except there is no groom. Were it not for the cakes and 2 small gifts that Pat and I brought Olga would not have had a party at all. Olga her sister and 2 brothers live in a house with 4 other relatives the oldest of which is 23 years old.
Her mother lives less than a mile away but wants nothing ot do with Olga or her other 3 children. Olga's aunt and uncle originally took her and here sister and brothers in a few years ago but uncle died shortly after in a drowning accident and her aunt got sick and died shortly after that. Her cousin Victor who is 23 is doing the best he can to hold the family together but he has to work long hours and receives little pay so it is difficult to put food on the table let alone think about having a birthday party. Earlier this morning when I asked Victor if we could bring over a cake and have a party for Olga he seemed thrilled. (Olga is an amazing young woman who I am enjoying getting to know. She is a bit shy and reserved at first, but really seems to be enjoying some attention from a woman--she doesn't really have a mother figure in her life. I'd be proud to count her among my "adopted" daughters!)
In traditional Guatemalan fashion Olga got her face shoved into one of the cakes after blowing out the candles. I use to think that getting a spanking on your birthday was bad but this one takes the cake.
(Somehow, I think Dick and the boys enjoyed this just a little bit too much. Olga was a good sport, though)
(I couldn't help but enjoy watching Olga eat her piece of birthday cake. She would scrape off a tiny bit of frosting, and savor every bit of it before taking the next bite. I wish I'd remembered to take my camera, because the look on her face as she did this was absolutely radiant. I think we managed to succeed in making her feel special today.)
Even though we felt privileged to be part of this celebration Olga and her entire family thanked us over and over again for coming.I had a big crew for supper tonight and even though I had run out of hamburger the entire crew voted for spaghetti. It's not that my spaghetti is all that good it is just that the only other choice was corn flakes. I must admit though I still prefer hamburger in it better than chopped up hot-dogs. (Luckily I came home for supper tonight, though if I hadn't I think I probably could have come up with SOMETHING better than hot dog spaghetti. Of course, when you eat ketchup on Hawaiian pizza, this combination seems mild.)
Well it is getting late so I think that I will take a few Tums and then head off to bed.
Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick
Thanks, Dick, for giving me a night off from journaling. Or I could have had the night off if I hadn't felt the need to make comments. I'm sure you expected me, too, however, because you know I never miss a chance to have the LAST WORD!
No comments:
Post a Comment