Yesterday I went out to lunch with one of my new friends that I met here in Loreto. As we were eating lunch and having a great conversation I noticed one of the employees little boy playing in and out of the restaurant. He had dirt on his face and a worn soccer ball that had seen better days. As I was eating I smiled at him a few times and got a shy smile back.

A few minutes later my friend remembered she had a candy cane someone had given her that she thought he might like. When she pulled it out I remembered that I used to throw those away when I was in the states. She called him over, we found out his name was Jorge, and she handed him the small candy cane.

His face lit up and I don’t think I have ever seen someone so grateful before. I immediately felt such a warm feeling as it touched my heart that here this little boy, maybe 3 years old, was absolutely thrilled over a little candy cane. You would have thought she had given him a brand new x-box or something.

I thought back to life here in the states. I looked at all the postings of Christmas trees and tons of presents, our lives are filled full of stuff.

We forget to be grateful for the little things anymore. Finding joy in the small stuff, not in how much a present cost. This year, I am living in a land that feels like home already to me. Maybe it is that I am filled with gratitude for coming to this point in my life when I don’t need “things” to make me happy.

I can learn a lot from little Jorge.