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Dr. Tesfa G. Gebremedhin
West Virginia
University
In an extensive survey conducted by
the Associated Press and MTV on what makes American young people
happy, they found out that nearly three-quarters of young people say
their relationship with their parents makes them happy. The survey
also indicated that half of the respondents mentioned both their
parents as their heroes and take them as their role models. Our
Eritrean children are not different from the other young people in the
survey. In many of my seminars to the Eritrean youth in Diasporas,
they have indicated to me many times that their relationship with
their parents certainly makes them very happy. At one time, one
particular Eritrean-American girl responded to me by saying, My
parents are my foundation for my life. My Mom and Dad love me, no
matter what. Just knowing that they love me makes me very happy and
blessed and I also love them very much, no matter what. You can
not imagine the kind of pride I felt to hear such statements from such
an Eritrean American girl. We may know that our children love their
parents, but we usually do not know how much they love their parents.
In most instances it is commonly observed that boys (sons) are very
close with their Mom and girls (daughters) are close with their Dad.
We can learn a good moral lesson from an interesting story about the
love of a little girl for her Dad, told by an unknown author; I
received the story from a good friend of mine.
It was the month of December.
Instead of celebrating Christmas with joy and happiness, the family of
Mr. and Mrs. Abraham with their two young children was in agony and
despair. Mr. Abraham was lying in bed and he was in a terrible pain.
He was diagnosed with painful brain tumor. His wife was worried that
her husband might die if he could not have immediate surgery. The
family did not have health insurance to cover his medical expenses.
Mom had to explain to her six-year old daughter and four-year old son
that their father was not feeling good because something bad is
growing in his head. She told them that Mommy and Daddy did not have
money or health insurance to take him to the hospital. She told them
that only a miracle could save him from this life-threatening illness.
The little girl went to her bedroom
and pulled a glass jelly jar from its hiding place in the closet. She
poured the change out on the floor and counted it carefully three
times to make sure that the total was exactly perfect. Carefully
placing the coins back in the jelly jar and twisting on the cap, she
slipped out the back door and made her way four blocks to a Drug Store
with the big Pharmacy sign on the wall above the front door. She
entered and waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her some
attention, but he was too busy at that moment. The little girl twisted
her feet to make a scuffing noise and nothing happened. She cleared
her throat with the most disgusting sound she could muster, but there
was no response. Finally, she took a quarter from her jelly jar and
banged it on the glass counter. That did it! The pharmacist asked in
an annoyed tone of voice. And what do you want? I am
talking to my brother who came from out of town; I have not seen him
in ages, he said without waiting for a reply to his question. Well,
I want to talk to you about my Daddy, the little girl answered
back in the same annoyed tone. My Daddy is really sick and I want
to buy a miracle. The pharmacist replied, I beg your pardon?
She said, My Daddy has something bad growing inside his head and
my Mommy says only a miracle can save him now. So how much does a
miracle cost? The pharmacist was not amused and said, softening a
little We don't sell miracles here, little girl. I am sorry but I
can't help you, The little girl answered, Listen, I have the
money to pay for it. If it is not enough, I will try to get the rest.
Just tell me how much it costs.
At that point in time, the
pharmacist's brother, a well dressed man, was at the pharmacy. He
heard the conversation between the pharmacist and the little girl with
care and sympathy. He looked at the little girl and asked her, What
kind of a miracle does your Daddy need? I don't know, the
little girl replied with her eyes welling up. I just know he is
really sick and Mommy says he needs an operation. But Mommy and Daddy
can not pay for it, so I want to use my money for the operation. How
much do you have? asked the brother of the pharmacist. One
dollar and eleven cents, The little girl answered barely audibly.
And it is all the money I have, but I will try to get some more if
I need to. Well, what a coincidence, smiled the well
dressed man. A dollar and eleven cents is the exact price of a
miracle for a Dad. He took her money in one hand and with the
other hand he grasped her mitten and said Take me to where you
live. I want to see your Daddy and meet your Mommy. Let me see in my
briefcase if I have the miracle you need. His name was Dr. Joseph
Solomon, a well-known surgeon, specializing in brain surgery. He met
with the parents of the little girl and took Mr. Abraham to the
hospital. The operation was successful and completed free of charge,
and it wasn't long until Mr. Abraham was home again and doing well.
Mom and Dad were happily talking about the chain of events that had
led them to this place. The Mom whispered to her family and relatives,
That surgery was a real miracle. I wonder how much it would have
cost us if we were to pay. The little girl smiled and did not
tell how much it was. The little girl knew exactly how much a miracle
cost; according to her it was one dollar and eleven cents.
Truly, the cost for the operation
was the sincere and genuine love of the little girl for her Daddy. The
surgeon was at the pharmacy not by mere coincidence; he was a godsend
because God/Allah does work in mysterious ways. It was really a
miracle from above to observe such an event to happen in a family. The
Almighty answered her prayer when He saw the innocent wishes and
strong determination of the little girl to help her Daddy. The moral
lesson of the story is that our children are the gift from God/Allah.
Our children need to know that we love them very much the way they
are, no matter what. We need to appreciate what they do and say, no
matter what. We need to remember that quality
in parenting is not what we put into it; it is what our children get
out of our parenting. Our relationship with our children
will always go right if we do the right thing. If
we fail to establish a good and loving relationship with our
children, they will obviously be at the utmost risk. The support of
our Eritrean professionals and scholars in mentoring our youth is
highly desirable to make a difference in our communities.
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