Care Packages

Growing up on the other side of the world from our family and friends in the United States, I came to expect a few things when it came to staying in touch:

Having to speak very loudly when calling long-distance and and then waiting for the 10 second lag before your words made it across the miles to the person on the other end of the line.

The mail taking at least three weeks for a letter to get to the U.S., and then another three for a response to get back to you.

And care packages? Don't even bother trying. The box might make its way to its destination after a few months wandering the mail routes, but its contents would not.

So when I headed off to college leaving my family behind in Nepal, I did not expect to receive too many packages. But my parents surprised me. At the beginning of my first Fast in college, what should be delivered to my dorm but a massive, heavy box with my name on it and just the words "Love, Mom and Dad" on the label. It is a thrilling thing to return from class and have friends tell you "there's a big package for you at the bell desk." Of course, it is a known fact that when you are young and away from home, there is nothing better in the world than to receive a package from your loved ones.

My parents had ordered a box of navel oranges and ruby red grapefruits and had them sent to me, and I enjoyed them every morning of that Fast. (I also learned to juggle with those oranges, now that I think about it.) Since then my parents have sent me a box of citrus fruit every year during the Fast, and still it is always a thrilling surprise to see the big package for me in the lobby. This morning we had the first ruby red grapefruit from this year's batch for breakfast.

As I was preparing to post the picture above Ash asked me, "Oh, are you going to blog about that?" When I said I was, he gave me permission to quote him as saying "These are the best tasting grapefruits I have ever eaten." And they really are.

Thank you Mom and Dad.