by Susan Morton

Created on: November 16, 2008   Last Updated: November 17, 2008

When I was small, I was the kid that most mothers did not want to let their children around. I was a tomboy, though girly I must say and looked at times very dirty. I ran the street all day, and one of my friends was rather wealthy. She wore white pageant dresses and no other color. Her mother did not want her to play in the dirt. I went by and asked her mother could I play with her every day, and she always said no, go away.I was sure that I was on a mission to teach her what games all the kids played, which included tea party and marbles.

Well I may have been small, but I was persistant. I was sure that playing jump rope and making mud pies was right up there with going to the fair.At first I felt sorry for me, because I was not dressed as well as her, but then I thought, wouldn't it be nice if she had someone to play with.Here, I thought I can teach her how to skip rope, or hide and seek,or play with dolls. I always felt so small when I saw her mother, she was so disapproving of me. But today, she was not there.

My friend said to me,"my mother is not here, do you want to see my room?" Well I thought, I get to see how the other half lives. In the house everything was white, and it had plastic all over everything. Such a rich house but no color. We went to her room, and there she showed me her magnificent dolls all dressed in white.

I never had a room alone, and on the side table was a picture of a older girl who looked a lot like her. She told me that was her older sister, and one night her father got drunk and sold her to her uncle. Well, I was shocked! It was bad enough that my parents abused me or neglected me, but I was terrified of that thought of being sold like a piece of furniture thrown away. She said to me"never tell anyone this you hear?" I said okay and ran out of her house because her mother was coming home.

Needless to say her mother was angry with me coming out of her house. So she picked me up and dragged me into the bathroom and took off my clothes and threw me in the tub, and said "Get clean for gods sakes!" Well I was so afraid I cried. I was dirty to her, I told her my mom gave me a bath at the end of the day before bed, and not in the day time.

Well I ran all the way home, at this time I thought about what she had said. Here I felt sorry for myself, thinking if I had been born to a rich family, that I would not be the answer to everything. But here was my friend,not allowed to play in the dirt, play hide and seek, or make mud pies. Surely if god forgave her mother for allowing that to happen, then I could forgive her for throwing me into the bath tub.

So I walked down the street and knocked on the door. There the door opened and her mother told me that I had a lot of nerve coming back to her house. And I said to her," I am so sorry for messing up your carpet, and could you forgive me for trying to teach your daughter skip rope?" I was expecting her to shoo me away as she always had, whenever I came to ask to play. But, she smiled and said you may play as long as you do not leave the sidewalk, everything must stay white!"

So I taught her daughter how to skip rope, and she taught me forgiveness, something that even though we went to church every Sunday to learn, but was not practiced every day. Forgiveness, such a simple word, I thought, she actually smiled! I will never forget that summer day I learned what forgiveness meant. At the very ancient age of five.

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