The Old Lady Next Door

Chapter 4- Gratitude

It is a beautiful Saturday. The sun is shining in my room, it's warm and not humid. My curtains are fluttering as the breeze blows in my room. I get up early because I'm going to visit the orphanage in 2 hours. There's still some time left, so I open my laptop and scroll through the in-depth reports I wrote earlier.

During my time as a journalist, I had to go overseas at least twice a year to do in-depth reports. It's not because I love adventure or free travel, but because all the women on my team had at least one or two children, married or divorced. They had a very strong work ethic; I really enjoyed working with them. But no matter how dedicated they were to their work, these working women were still struggling at some level between career and children. I was the only one who didn't have a child, which is one of the reasons why I had to work abroad a few months a year. Whenever I saw my colleagues burning the candle at both ends, it always reminded me not to be like any of them. That's not exactly the lifestyle I want.

As I read the in-depth reports I've written, I realized that over the past 6 years I've interviewed all walks of life around the world, including the COVID widows in Africa, the indigenous people in Brazil, the brown bear protector in Russia, and so on. Many of my friends envied my ability to travel abroad for weeks at a time for free, but what they didn't know is that I would much rather stay at home and just have a cup of coffee in front of my laptop on my bed, not get frozen in northern Siberia or struggle in the Amazon rainforest. Ironically, the dream came true and now I'm actually sitting on my couch in my apartment because I was laid off a few days ago.

"Betty! Betty! Are you in there? This is Betty." Emma's cheerful voice wakes me from my daydream as she knocks on my door.

When I open the door, she hugs my thighs excitedly and says, "Grandma Joy told me you're going to the orphanage with us today! I can introduce you to my friends there!"

"Are you ready, sweetie? Let's go to the bakery before we go to the orphanage." Joy's face always shows the brightness, just like a sun shines on the whole world".

"Isn't Lesley going with us today?" I asked.

"She's in the bakery making vegan sandwiches and almond milk for the children." Joy says.

"Okay, I can't wait to see the kids. Let's go." Even though I'm pretending to be excited, deep down I'm not really sure how to deal with kids screaming and running all over the place. Maybe deep down the kids thing isn't my thing.

On our way to the bakery, Joy seemed to recognize what I was worried about, she just patted my right shoulder and said, "Don't worry, you can read them stories or just share your life experience with them.

She seems to have the magic to read my mind and calm me down with just a few words. I try to convince myself that everything will be okay. I just need to get out of my comfort zone and be open to these "little monsters" that are coming.

When we arrive at the bakery, Lesley has already packed everything into the van. She looks very happy to see the kids at the orphanage. We just get in the van and drive to the orphanage. It reminds me of the field trip I used to take when I was in elementary school. While my mind is wandering, what I don't know is that the inner storm is coming when we arrive at the orphanage. It is even worse than I imagined. Little boys shouting and running here and there while playing "Tag, you're it", little girls playing make-believe the middle of the classroom, grumpy teenagers giving me an unfriendly look like I'm just another idiot they've seen so many of. It just makes me feel like I don't belong here. It's really weird standing here doing nothing.

"Betty, this is Erica, Sarah and Tiffany. They are my good friends. Can you tell us some of your stories?" Emma also understands that I am so uncomfortable in front of children.