01/11/2016
In my travels, I have taken with me so many memories of the people I met and the many little things that remind me of these far off places. But the world is such a small place anymore and you would be surprised how much you learn from sharing a bit of yourself with those you meet along the way. On our last EMO trip, a young school teacher approached me and after a brief conversation, she took out a pen and showed it to me. The ink had long run out but she started to tell her story. When she was a young girl, a group of Westerners were waiting on the side of the road for the bus to pick them up. She was the middle daughter in a family of 12 in a Champa village near Phan Rang. She walked up to a woman in the group and extended her hand. She was surprised to find that woman did not reach out to shake her hand, as she was hoping, but with both her arms, reached out and hugged this little girl real tight. Then, this woman reached into her bag for something ....anything...a piece of gum, a sticker...and she found a pen. "Chị muốn Em luôn luôn viết câu chuyện của riêng Em." She repeated what the woman had said to her, "May you always write your own story." And 14 years later, here was this young person who, despite all the pens she must have held throughout the years, she held on to this one I gave her with the fondest of memories.
