I knew I saved all those Beanie Babies for a reason.
It's that time of year again when you'll find me scooping up armloads of fresh red and yellow flowers, sweeping the house from top to bottom (for good luck!) and digging through our stuffed animal stash for that one certain specimen..
Yes, it's Happy Lunar New Year timez!
It was only ten years ago that I fell in love with this ancient celebration, and wouldn't you know that I was led to enlightenment by two little children.
Audra and Madelen.
We studied history together, these sisters and I, along with several other homeschooled kids in a sweet little class, and as the holiday approached, they saw fit to use their weekly presentation time to introduce the rest of us to the customs of the celebration.
Both girls were born in China and soon transplanted to the United States. Their gentle eight- and ten-year-old faces bloomed with pride as they shyly explained to us their homeland's traditional holiday decorations and dishes, not to mention the red envelopes stuffed with lucky money.
I don't recall the specific words that Audra and Madelen spoke to us that day. I'm pretty sure that they fed us some rice and showed us photos of dancing dragons and red paper lanterns strung up against the sky, but I have no specific memories of exactly what happened.
What I do remember with crystal clarity is their two small shining faces, flushed with excitement as well as solemn responsibility for bringing such an important part of their native land to life in a classroom far across the sea.
Audra and Madelen.
I treasure their deeply tender and heartfelt emotions and my heart still swells with love and gratitude - ten years later - for the precious gifts they gave to me that day.
The gift of understanding each other better.
The gift of celebrating life together.
The gift of sharing joy with our fellow human beings..
Audra and Madelen,
Thank you.
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You're on a roll. Want some more stories about the Lunar New Year?
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