A young Pakistani man bought the house next door to my parents’ house.  His parents came to stay with him for a period of a few months, and during the course of their stay, my mother met with this young man’s mother on several occasions.  They mainly came together for an afternoon tea and a few hours of discussion.

My mother and this Pakistani women developed a friendship and when it came time for her to return to Pakistan with her husband, my mother mentioned that she would be going abroad to Switzerland.  She promised to send her a postcard during her trip.

While she was in Switzerland, my mother did remember to send the postcard and didn’t think anything more or less than when she sent anyone else a postcard from abroad.  A week after returning to the Unites States, she received a call from the Pakistani women.  She had the following simple words to share:

“Thank you so, so, so much.  You made me so happy…”

It took a short while to write and send this postcard, but the effect that it had on another person was immeasurably greater.  It turns out that this Pakistani women’s own mother had died a short time after she returned home, and had been feeling utterly and completely full of despair.  She was able to do exactly what I mentioned towards the end of my last post: she took solace in one of the small details of her life.  She was able to let a simple postcard from a faraway friend, bring her happiness.

I don’t know about you, but this story really moved me, and is a powerful example of how amazing life can be, if we only let it.  This women certainly did- in a time of absolute personal darkness, she was still able to garner happiness from her friend’s greetings.  We can never know what will happen when we follow up on a promise or take a few minutes to do something for someone else.  It just might make all the difference in the world, and for this Pakistani women, it sure did.