Passion of the Heart

Last night our household officially inaugurated the holiday season with a big house party, which went on into the wee hours of the morning. Everyone had a truly wonderful time. The evening was filled with wonderful people, lots of good food and drink, great conversation, dancing and entertainment.

During the course of the evening, three surprises presented themselves, each of which simply warmed my heart and made my spirit sing.

The first surprise came from an older friend, John, who after having read the latest issue of my newsletter, gave me a small white envelope within which was contained a cheque for $100 to put toward the cost of my flight to Laos next year.

The second surprise came from my new friend, Alvin, who presented me with a small envelope within which was contained a beautiful little card (see image above) accompanied by an equally beautiful sentiment. A post scriptum was included, which said:

Please accept the contents of this card as a contribution to your humanitarian efforts...truly a passion of the heart.

The contents of the card was $100 in cash, which Alvin told me was to help cover the cost of my flight.

The third and final surprise was presented by my friend Peter in a small brightly coloured, finely detailed envelope. Inside it was $160 in cash (enough to cover three water filters), which Peter explained was a donation to Adopt a Village in Laos. This money I will keep safely tucked away until I can personally give it to Steve upon his return from Laos in April 2011.

With the contributions which I received toward the cost of my flight, my travel fund now stands at $620, which is about one-third of the way to my goal.