I was told never to take candy from strangers.
So I didn’t.
I took a whole lunch, and I ate every bite.
I’ve written once before about my love for the community in which I work. Today reminded me again that I have landed in the right place.
I had just returned to my somewhat rundown host church after stepping across the parking lot for coffee and was about to close my office door behind me when I heard a tentative, “Ma’am?”
I turned and saw a tiny woman I did not recognize.
“Ma’am, have you had any lunch today?”
She turned and gestured toward the battered desk which serves as the church’s Sunday reception area. There rested a half-empty platter covered with plastic.
“Would you like to try some Indonesian food? I made it for a prayer breakfast but others also brought food, and the turnout was small.”
The woman brought the plate to my door, where I still stood. This was unexpected. She appeared to mistake my hesitation.
“These are made from sticky rice and coconut milk. The dark one is sweet and has brown sugar. The other isn’t sweet, and it has tuna in it.” Almost apologetically, she added, “I come from an island. We learned to use what we had.”
The lovely, moist rectangles were plated on banana leaves.
I was overwhelmed by her simple kindness. I hurried to get a tissue to use as a plate. A tissue? Well, I am a therapist, after all.
I thanked her profusely.
“Let me think if I have something I can give you,” I said stupidly.
“Oh no,” she said. “You don’t need to give me anything for them. Please—take as many as you want.”
I hadn’t been thinking to pay her, only to share a part of my self in return. I had been visualizing my sandwich, orange, and hardboiled egg. Who would want those? It’s ridiculous, I know. But that was what popped into my mind as I scanned my brain for a gesture of communion.
I ate the rice cakes at the desk where I am now writing. The savory one was a type of tuna sandwich which hinted of ginger. The sweet one was a gooey delight. Without the banana leaf beneath them, the fragrant cakes had become hopelessly grafted to the tissue. I ate them paper and all.
Rita is no longer a stranger.
Family Rules 