Guinea Pig, Radishes and Greens for Thanksgiving

Stuffing- it’s my favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal. Laughter of my grandkids, grilling my daughters on the lost art of making really good gravy and watching my husband squirt Ready Whip directly into his mouth- these are close seconds.

I love Thanksgiving and this year I’ve been thinking about Elyana. She is a mother I met in Bolivia last May. She has three children, a husband who built their one room mud brick home and a smile that doesn’t end.  She won’t celebrate Thanksgiving, but she will be cooking this week. What will she serve? Guinea pig, radishes and some greens from her garden. Doesn’t sound very appealing does it? Not to you and me, but to her, it is a feast. Elyana used to feed her children only potatoes and corn. But now- because her little children have been touched by hands of Food for the Hungry sponsors, she will have meat and greens. That means vitamins and protein to her babies so that their brains will develop, their limbs will grow strong and most importantly, that they will survive.

How I would love to bring Elyana and her family to Michigan, sit her down at my table and feed her family this Thanksgiving. I would like to see her not so much to help her but to learn from her. She would show me how to be more grateful- for the gravy, the stuffing and for the man who won’t stop squirting Ready Whip directly into his mouth. I won’t be able to see her this Thanksgiving but I can still help her and learn from her. She will always be in my heart because I sponsor her through Food for the Hungry.