A Cup of Humility

It was half my life time ago - at the age of 13 - when my mom got the call. She picked me up from school in a rush of excitement and unanswered questions so we could make the drive to the hospital nursery to pick the baby girl up and take her home with us. Despite the Social Worker saying it was a temporary placement, I was ecstatic to know that a newborn little girl was going to be my new foster sister for the time being. I'll never forget walking into the quiet, dimly-lit room where the most beautiful little baby that I had ever seen contently lain in her hospital bassinet. A maternity nurse was examining her and trying to conduct a test by placing her tiny foot into a bowl of water. The nurse briefly glanced over her shoulder and softly explained that she was trying to make the baby tinkle because they wanted to test her urine for any traces of drugs. After a few minutes, the nameless baby cooperated and the nurse took her sample to have it checked out. It tested free and cl

Last summer I received two issues of Real Simple magazine as part of a free trial offer. Despite not actually knowing what this magazine was about, I excitedly thumbed through the pages upon receiving my first issue in the mail. I quickly came across a page that read the following: "TELL US ABOUT THE TIME THAT YOU FIRST UNDERSTOOD THE MEANING OF LOVE. Maybe you were a child, witnessing a generous act by your father or mother. Maybe the lesson came later, as you grappled with the challenges of being a friend, a spouse, or a parent yourself. Whatever made you understand love—and yourself—better, tell us about it." Immediately I was taken back to a night that occurred many years ago and KNEW that I had to type that experience out on my computer and send it off to the editors of that magazine. The silver lining in sharing my story was that the winner of the essay contest would receive $3,000, round-trip tickets for two to NYC (including hotel accommodations