Holly's story about Tijuana

My friend Holly told me the other day about her trip to a Tijuana orphanage. She thought it would be depressing to visit these fifty or so children in an impoverished city, but it sounded to me that she left lighter than she was when she arrived.
None of the children had a pair of shoes to which they could call their own. Instead, they would grab any available pair that would fit best from a shelf where all the shoes were stored. Laughter filled the beaten walls of the small orphanage at the arrival of the Americans and it didn’t stop. Holly said the orphanage celebrated all the children’s birthdays with cake, but without gifts. I am certain that these children don’t lack a thing on this special day. They clamored over who would give Holly and her friends a back massage in exchange for a quarter, and afterwards the little girls styled Holly’s hair. Everyone enjoyed the outrageous product. As Holly left, a little girl who didn’t speak English (Holly doesn’t speak Spanish) gave Holly her bracelet. Holly was really reluctant to take this because the girl had so little already, but she would’ve hurt her feelings if she hadn’t, so she obliged. The simplicity of this all stuns me. I have so much more than these children, yet they are so happy. Their gifts are so small, but so large compared to many of the gifts I give. All I can really say is “Wow”!