Jester...

Today, when I returned from the post office, I ran into two 22 year old boys.
They are not street kids, but I thought I'd had seen them around before.
That feeling got confirmed when one of them greeted me very politely saying: "Hola Don Jan".
It turned out that in the year 2000, when I first came to Granada, I had helped his brother Jester a lot.
Of course I still have the image of a 10 year old in mind when now he must be about 20.
When I met him, he was selling chewing gum in the park...
2 for a peso! Boy, that was a long time ago.
Later on, he started to clean shoes.
And although I only wore sandals, I did have a pair of boots that I had him clean now and then.
It didn't matter that they hadn't been worn!
I remember that Jester was a real smart kid. One day, when I was reading my book in the park, he proudly wanted to show me that he could read and write.
I still have the book where he wrote his name on the back cover.
I also remember that he told me that he was only shining shoes half days because going to school was so important.
Well... his older brother told me today that Jester is a lot taller than him now AND that he is studying and doing very well.
It warmed my heart to hear that!
And what a memory that brother has!!!
He too was selling "Chickles" in the park, and he remembered me buying them from him.
I always bought, even when I didn't eat them.
But I knew that soon, there would be somebody else passing by whom would like a free chewing gum and that person would smile.
Two happy people for a peso! Nothing can beat that!