Thailand – It’s been an amazing morning. However, upon leaving our room…we spot one of our friends who cleans here. Over the years and last 7 trips…we’ve developed a relationship over toilet paper and extra towels. At first I didn’t recognize her. She was bald with a face mask. You could tell she was smiling – her eyes gave it away. She then pulled down her face mask and there it was. That beautiful smile. Our friend, Somgi. She points at her breast. Ah, breast cancer. I asked if she was ok. I WISH I spoke Thai! She nods her head but I was not convinced. Downstairs I ask at the desk and they reassured me she is doing well.
As a routine here, I walked to Starbucks where 2 of the regular baristas were excited to see us once again. They are counting down the hours to meet the rest of the team. They giggle when they talk – but their English is improving quickly!
From there we proceeded to the bank, where things went smoothly. That’s always a good sign. Usually my bills are not clean and crisp enough. Check. Moving on to the next task. Returning to our place – locking up shop and a quick stop to our room for a bathroom break.
Coming down our hall – we see they had just cleaned our room. Out pops the head of our other friend! She must of been in a room this morning and we missed her. She speaks more English. I’ll ask about Somgi. The two of them there – best friends. Bungan begins to cry. She makes the prayer motion and says, “Pray to Lord of lords!” “Ok,” I say… “Let’s pray now.” Thru tears…and in English, we ask our Creator to restore. Amen.
We turned around and walk into our room wishing we had something small to give them. I look at the desk and there sit the 2 Glade cans of air freshners we brought. Why did we bring them? God knew…I didn’t. I grab the and walk back into the hall. They giggle as I showed them what they were for (our smelly rooms). They clutch them and went back to work.
Sometimes…it’s the small things, that are the big things.
