A disabled daughter A parent never expects to have a disabled child. When this happened to us, my wife, already psychologically fragile, fell into a depression. I found myself taking care of the family in an unexpectedly new way. The first month, full of queries, I was isolating myself from friends and relatives. One day, at the staircase of the condominium, I met a couple who seemed to be very serene despite having a daughter with the Down syndrome. When I asked them how they managed to be so, their answer amazed me: “Our daughter is the biggest gift we could ever receive. She has brought us back to reality and the whole family benefited from it.” My wife and I went to visit them often. We learned about their faith, and day after day, thanks to them also we rediscovered the values we had neglected. (A. e G.F. – Italia) An unexpected gift Some relatives who had distanced themselves from us for inheritance reasons, accepted our invitation for them to stay with us for a few days. But when they told us the date of their arrival, it was not the best moment: we were having financial difficulties and I had no time to prepare the house as well as I would have wanted. Then I thought that the new found peace was the biggest gift and with the entire family we decided to do our best to make their stay a happy one. We would have liked also to give them a gift, but for want of anything better, our youngest son prepared a drawing and the oldest one, a welcome poem. The day before their arrival, in my husband’s company, the employees received a bonus package. When we opened it, there were two watches, a lady’s and a man’s watch: the unexpected gifts for our relatives. (R.H. – Germany) Another chance One of my sisters-in-law asked me the favour of taking her in our house for a period and to sign a bank loan she needed. Our house is small but we welcomed her sincerely. I saw that my husband however was very worried about the loan, considering that a few years back we had lent her a sum which she never returned. I told him that I would accept whatever decision he made, adding however that everyone should be given a chance to redeem himself. Doesn’t God himself do so with us? We signed the guarantee for the loan, which my sister-in-law is punctually paying back, even if at times not on time. As to me, I feel I have to continue helping her, and at times we have long talks during which she opens out to me as if I were a sister, overcoming the barriers that divide us. (M.D. – Paraguay) Totally at service After the death of our first girl, at only14 months, also the other two sons that arrived started to show the same symptoms. My wife and I were with bated breath, and the house became like a small hospital. However, trying to love one another, our children grew full of peace. How many times was I converted upon looking at them! Returning home after work, I tried to leave all my worries and problems behind, so as to be totally at their disposition. It could only work out this way, otherwise we would have been crushed by anguish and worries for the future. We concretely experienced that God is all powerful, and can give us a taste of paradise even in such a difficult situation. (G.M.B. – Italy)