When Maya Angelou, author of the moving autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, was eleven years old, she was reunited with her birth mother, whom she hadn’t seen in eight years. Young Maya was unhappy.
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After two weeks, her mother still had not seen her smile. Here’s the exchange between Maya and her mother, recorded in Mom & Me & Mom (Random House, 2013):
“Come on, baby, smile for Mother. Come on. Be charitable.”
…..She made a funny face and against my will, I smiled. . . .
…..“That’s the first time I have seen you smile. It is a beautiful smile. Mother’s beautiful daughter can smile.”
…..I was not used to being called beautiful.
…..That day, I learned that I could be a giver simply by bringing a smile to another person. The ensuing years have taught me that a kind word or a vote of support can be a charitable gift.
Now it’s your turn: What can you do that will be a charitable gift for someone? Choose a person. Choose the action. Then write about it in a paragraph, explaining what you can do.
