As I was headed home the other day, it occurred to me that it was my JW neighbor's birthday. I remembered this as I realized that she would be at my home in about 20 minutes so that I could help her with something. So, I quickly stopped at a store and got her a gift, and had it gift-wrapped. I bought her a birthday card, too.
She has been dealing with some some budget problems recently, and this has been depressing her. So when she arrived she was looking very worn out. I brought the bag into the room and said, "This is for you!" And she replied, "Why?" I gave her this very wide grin and said, "Well, isn't today a SPECIAL DAY for you???..."
Well, if she had ever been a JW that frowned on birthdays, I would never have known. Her face brightened up with this huge smile and her eyes sparkled, and she blurted out, "You remembered!!" (It was a transformation!!!) She came over and gave me a hug.
So I gave her her stuff, and we did the errand together, and I got back home. Then, I started thinking about some steaks I had seen in the store lately, on a terrific sale. I called her up and asked if she was free for dinner, and would she like to come over for barbequed steak and eat on our patio? To my great surprise, she said yes! It surprised me, because it was a meeting night, and she has NEVER missed a meeting unless she is near death.
So, we had a WONDERFUL evening together. She missed her meeting, and celebrated her birthday. When she left, she gave me a long, hard hug and said, "Thank you SOOOOO much!" So I don't think she was feeling guilty!
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