Grateful

Recently, I was strolling in one of Egypt's most crowded and beautiful places ever:

It's called Wst el Balad

Despite the place's charm and its unique vibes of ancient Egypt, the citizen are in sheer poverty. My mother and I ecstatically ventured inside to buy everything from spiritual gemstones to metallic statues of pharaohs from the humble stores dispersed all over the place.

It was late at night, and we should have returned to our car long ago. Personally, I found marching to the parking space fatiguing, for the routes were congested with a blizzard of dirty cars and oodles of people bottled in taxis like tuna fish. As we pulled ourselves up one of the routes, we coincidentally passed by a man who was hysterically weeping. His body was is a fragile physical conditions as his boney body shook uncontrollably.

He cried, "The hospital won't cleanse her kidneys because I don't have all the 250 pounds. I only have 200 pounds...it's over...God is here for us.....She's my mother too. No one lives forever but God."

My mother and I only had 100 pounds, and we needed 30 pounds to pay for the parking. We have him the 100 pounds, and he gave us 50 in return. He thanked us and dashed towards the hospital.

During our way back home, I cried 3 times that day as my heart broke for him. No matter how meticulously I attempt to describe the scene, it will never be as painful nor realistic as observing it. 

I thought to myself, "Why didn't we take his phone number? The cleanse lasts for only 2 days. What will he do 2 days from now? How will he get the money?"

I was overwhelmed by my overthinking. Only that day did I know the price of life. I hugged and kissed my parents after witnessing what happened; I was and still thankful for them being alive and healthy.

The message here is to be grateful. Be grateful for your health. Be grateful for having your parents. Be grateful for having money. 

When I was crying, I was focusing on the aspect of not having money can kill someone. The idea that the hospital would reject someone's life for not having as little as 50 pounds. Can you fathom how little that 50 pounds is? It can't even get you a burger from McDonald's. They priced the extra 50 pounds more than the woman's life. How coarse can they get?

My mother soothed me down by telling me a short story of the past president of Egypt: Mohamed Hosni Mubarak. He had a juvenile son suffering a malicious disease. His only hope was to travel from Egypt to Germany; however, the poor boy died on the plane. My mother explained that, even if that man had all the money in the world, he cannot change fate.

I felt slightly more comfortable after hearing the story, but I was still devastated by the situation.

I still pray God to meet him one more time to take his number and send him help.