Life Lessons from Patti J. Smith

Please join me for a special weekend post with fellow Helping Hands Press author Patti J. Smith!  Welcome Patti! :)

In case you haven't had the pleasure of meeting her yet, Patti's specialty is devotions. Hop over to her Amazon author page to check them out.

A LIFE LESSON 

When I tell people I was raised in the military, many say, “That must have been

hard”. In some respects it was with constant moves, leaving family and friends and

being the new kid at school; however, in contrast to those hardships, there was an

atmosphere of excitement and adventure whenever my dad got his orders. One

such assignment was Nouasseur Air Force Base, Morocco – right outside of

Casablanca!

The military was integral part of the local economy by hiring domestic and

landscape services. We had a maid, Fatna Omar (who we called Nanna), and a

gardener, Bashir. Nanna not only kept our home impeccable, she taught my sister

and I French and Arabic. There would be days assigned where she would only speak

French or Arabic, which made learning the language easy. In fact, when we returned

stateside, we could both speak French with ease and retained quite a bit of Arabic.

She also shared local recipes with my mom, my favorite being Couscous, durum

wheat (rice-like) served with chicken and vegetables. Our yard was absolutely

beautiful as Bashir took great pride in his handiwork. They were warm, loving

people who quickly integrated into our family.

What I'll always remember is the joy they brought into our lives. Never did we see a

frown or words of anger. They were sincerely happy people. They not only showered

us with as much love as they did their own families, but always brought my sister

and I home-made trinkets that became instant treasures. Although they saw how we

lived with all the modern conveniences, they were satisfied with what they had.

They lived in shacks, with dirt floors, no running water or electricity yet were

content with their meager surroundings...and always proudly welcomed us into their

homes.

While we were there the base closed which proved disastrous for the economy. My

mom and dad were so worried about Nanna and Bashir they gave them a year's

salary as severance to keep them going until they could find something else. They

both tried to refuse but with much prodding, they finally accepted the gift with great

humility. Leaving them was very hard because we knew we would never see them

again, but the life lesson they shared with us will be held in our hearts forever:

“True happiness is not having what you want but wanting what you have.”


Thank you, Patti, for sharing with us today. Wish you all the best with your 
writing!

You can find out more about Patti and her books on her blog, Gridiron Granny, on
Pinterest, or on Amazon. 

How was your Thanksgiving? What are you up to this weekend?

Happy writing,

Karen

P.S. I'm visiting Patti's blog today. If you have a moment,
hop over!