The Box

There it was – small, with crooked edges and a slight layer of dust on top, the box that travelled from home.

It took less than twenty-fours for this much awaited box to cross over the continent and arrive safely at their doorstep. Its short journey was just as much a surprise as were its contents. Everybody anticipated what it would comprise and everybody was silently impressed with what they discovered. It may sound silly to anyone reading this, but haven’t you ever been surprised by the ordinary?

The middle aged woman was almost frantically searching for the prescription to be inside: would the doctor’s note be somewhere in there too? had the pharmacist included the right dosage by the right company? No, it wasn’t an addiction fuelling all these questions but the health condition that sometimes seemed to ameliorate or worsen by the passing of each second and worry. She was happy however, and loved her presents too: a silky peach coloured top that seemed made of one piece of fabric solely, flowing loosely around her body and a pair of trousers that she probably wasn’t going to wear because the style was too business-daring and a bit too fit for her delicate taste.

The youngest was perhaps the most touched by her presents as she started reminiscing whilst clutching on to the gifts that reminded her of home. No, not in a sentimental sort of way, but in a gentle appreciation she felt for everything her home still meant to her: faith in face of adversity because this was what both shaped and prepared her to fulfil her destiny, working towards helping the unwell and the sick among us, especially those for whom there seems to be little hope. This overwhelmed her at times and caused her petite figure to slim down even more which worried everyone in the family, though she was tiny but fierce.

My presents? Seeing everyone else enjoy theirs, feeling their joy, anticipation, melancholy and strain for hope from that box.

Wondering what’s inside? The contents may seem irrelevant to anyone else but those they were intended for, to know that someone else, somewhere else thinks of you and shared their joy with you when you received the box. No matter how small you think your gesture might be, you can never even begin to comprehend its impact, until you learn that there is still joy and find a re-affirming sense of hope even in the ordinary.