Little Selma (1)

“Why is that man sitting there on the side of the street mom?” The little girl, Selma, asks her mom. “Doesn’t he have a house to go to?”

Selma’s mother becomes uneasy… She searches hastily for a right answer and replies, “He doesn’t have a home sweetie. I think he does not have enough money to afford to live in one.”

Selma’s eyes frown and then she asks, “Why doesn’t his mommy or daddy let him live with them? They don’t like him?”

“Of course they do honey, they probably don’t have the money to support him either.” The worried mother replies.

“Can’t we invite him to live with us then? He can sleep in the guests’ room.” Selma innocently suggests.

Selma’s mother knew where all this would lead to: an hour of questions and answers resulting in Selma’s precious tears.

She looked at Selma, trying to figure out the right words to say.

Slowly, she held her closer, gently played with her hair as she explained the unfairness of life to her 5 years old girl:

“There are many things you won’t be able to fully understand now, some I still don’t understand till this day! There are many things you would like to change, many things you will feel are unfair but in time you’ll learn that this is life. You see, it’s not always the choices we make that place us in a certain place at a certain time, there are many other factors involved.

Remember that old man selling corn I told you about? The one who was out there moving his cart, late at night, in the chilly weather, trying to make a living? Do you think that was fair?”

The little girl nodded no.

“Well, this is just another example of things we can’t control. The only thing we can do is help those less fortunate in little things that will not hurt their pride and try to make the best out of every blessing we have.”

“Can we buy him lunch then?” Selma asked anxiously.

“Of course we can.” Selma’s mom replied.

And that night, as Selma’s mom laid in her cozy bed next to her husband after putting little Selma to bed, she remembered that look on her daughter’s face and wished that she will never turn numb to the harshness and unfairness of life. She prayed that she will never turn a blind eye to the truth and will always remember that people’s value is not based on power, authority or money rather on the pureness of the heart and mind.