True Wealth

by Patti

I am in the Dominican Republic right this very second. It is certain that by the time you read this, I will have survived a very annoying plane ride, but I do not take lightly that the key word in all of this is "survived". It is also quite certain that as you read this, I am sitting by the pool, sipping on a suitable summer cocktail, trying to ignore the roll of fat mocking me through my bathing suit. "You think I'm hidden, but I'm not! Ha ha ha ha!"

This trip to the DR is one that we have taken many times. The first one was for S's fifth birthday. How many five-year olds get to celebrate turning five with a stamp on their passport and an an infinity pool overlooking the Caribbean? Not many, that's how many. Unless you're a Jolie-Pitt, or something. But for Skokie shack people like us, it's a treat and a treasure and most definitely not a way of life. We've been fortunate to have been able to go back many times since, thanks to a generous "house donation" by one of M's clients. This house? I can't even begin to properly describe it. Let's just say it has 14 bathrooms. Is that enough of a description?


Hi, House with 14 bathrooms that is not ours and will never be.

Yeah. Imagine people like us, Skokie shack dwellers, who were, at the time of the first visit, completely accustomed to having only ONE bathroom (we've since upgraded to TWO bathrooms, living the highlife, we are), suddenly having 14 at their disposal? I'm not too embarassed to admit that we still pounded on the bathroom door and yelled "hurry up!" to one another the entire vacation. We simply could not compute that there could possibly be more than one bathroom available at the same time.
So, yes: We are very much looking forward to seeing our temporary house once again, and food like this:

But mostly, what I am looking forward to is seeing the kids again. Several years ago, before one of our visits to the DR, M did a "baseball bat drive" to collect as many bats and balls and gloves as he could to donate to an orphange with which his client was connected. Once there, attired in bathing suits and cover-ups, we lugged the goods to the orphanage, and were immediately surrounded by a gaggle of smiling, grateful faces. They gathered around, excited about the bats, but even more excited that we came from the United States and might possibly know Justin Beiber. So of course, I belted out my old lady version of "Baby, Baby". And they loved it.

S lovin' on one of the babies as I sang "Baby, Baby" in the background

S completely fell in love with one of the little girls. Her name was Lady, and S talked about her for a full year after meeting her. Because this particular orphanage actually mentors and raises the children through 18 years of age, we are hoping we will get to see Lady again this trip.

Mr. Personality and Lady with S

And M? Was completely smitten.

It was impossible not to be. These kids were bright and full of energy and smiles and light. And they had nothing. Not even parents. Yet, they still managed to be happy.

Humbled, we headed back to the 14-bathroom house and its stunning backyard.

I couldn't stop thinking about those kids - how each and every one of them was motherless. I wanted to save them all, but I couldn't. Yet, somehow, they saved me in just one visit. I'm not going to lie: I had been feeling poor and sorry for myself that something like this incredible house would never be mine. But now, it was amazing to sit there and see and smell the ocean, and be served cocktails, and feel the breeze and know that, although this house with this view was not mine and I would probably never be rich enough to ever make it mine, I was acutally rich beyond measure.