It was Sunday, around 6 in the afternoon, and my nephews Francisco and Adrián arrived home. Both were carrying a letter in their hands: their respective letters to their majesties the Three Wise Men from the East. After giving me a little kiss ...
It was Sunday, around 6 in the afternoon, and my nephews Francisco and Adrián arrived home. Both were carrying a letter in their hands: their respective letters to their majesties the Three Wise Men from the East. After giving me a little kiss and another to grandma, -Lorenzo, Lorenzo -Francisco tells me-, let's go to the computer to write the letter to the Three Wise Men! But you already have it written, I told them. -Yes, but we have to send it to the Kings over the Internet! Of course, I thought, because postal mail takes a long time and also by e-mail it is safer and does not get lost.
Well, as I do around this time, every year for I think three years now, I sat down at the computer to write separate emails to Their Majesties the Wise Men from the East, first Adrián's, then Francisco's. They are children, 7 and 9 years old respectively, so: Nintendo DS, Brin Breyn, Pokemon Diamond (things I don't even know what they are). And, of course, soccer rules: for Francisco, Raúl's clothes (from Real Madrid), the new one, of course -he specified-, and Iker Casillas' gloves; Adrián asked for Henry's clothes, from Barcelona, and Víctor Valdés' gloves. Also, skates with rubber wheels, resistant material boots, electronic experiments, and clothes. Comfortable clothes!, Francisco clarified.
You may wonder how the children ask for Raúl or Henry's clothes and also the gloves of the goalkeepers of their respective teams. Easy. I'll explain: since they are 2 little brothers, of similar ages, when they play soccer in the patio of their house, logically, one has to be the goalkeeper and the other shoots at the goal. You understand, right?
So far everything is normal. Nothing different from what, these days, will be happening in any family in a similar situation throughout Lanzarote, the Canary Islands, and more distant places.
But the letter to the Three Wise Men did not end with these things, natural, on the other hand, in children of that age. My little nephews have asked their majesties for more things. Adrián, who is only 7 years old, has included in his requests to the Kings "three toys for the poor children of Africa". And Francisco, who is already 9 years old, has asked Their Majesties, "for the poor children, water to drink, for the children of Africa, a water treatment plant (near the sea), in Africa also, food for all the families of the children of India, clothes for the children of South America, crops (grains, cotton) for the families of the children of India, and a hospital in Africa".
Both said goodbye with a Goodbye, Three Wise Men! and with a final observation for Their Majesties: "If you can't bring me something, bring it to me next year". Once the letters were finished and sent, because that was the most important thing about that day's visit, he asked me, each one, for a sheet of paper, from the ones already used, to make an airplane. We went to the street and played for a good while to see which plane flew the farthest. I watched, in case a car came, so that the children would go up to the sidewalk. Every now and then the plane would fall into Los Pinos Park, so we ended up playing that they launched the plane from the Park and I returned it to them from the street.
The next day, Monday, I receive an email from Melchior. The Three Wise Men asked me for collaboration, since neither Francisco nor Adrián had indicated their age or clothing size. As I have always loved to collaborate with Their Majesties, almost on the spot, the same Tuesday, I went to a sports equipment store to, on behalf of Melchior, order the respective uniforms of Raúl and Henry, and the gloves, of course, which are very important.
In the store I was attended by 4 very friendly employees. Two girls and two boys, between 20 and 30 years old. Their attention was very cordial, very collaborative. Of course it is their job, but with a smile we all enjoy it more. As the atmosphere was cordial, talking with them, I commented that, in addition to the natural, my nephews asked the Kings for other things. And I told them what things. While I was telling them, in the eyes of those 4 young people, in how they looked at me when I told them what other things my nephews were asking for, in how they told me that Francisco's letter to the Kings gave them, all 4, goosebumps, I saw that the hospital, the water treatment plant, the crops, and the other gifts that my nephews have asked for would reach the poor children. It is only necessary, for them to arrive, that we all have the capacity to value that request from children of 7 and 9 years old. Of course, it will also greatly influence that all parents, like my brother Paco and my sister-in-law Nely do, make their children notice that other children are not as fortunate as they are.
P.D.: I left the sports store very happy. I have always believed in the Three Wise Men. For me it is the most beautiful day of the year.
