Expecting for you and me!

It was as usual Tuesday evening. I was out for my weekly social service along with another Italian friend. We met Christian near Pantheon. Christian is a middle-aged man, with out any home or family. His drinking habits brought him to the present pathetic situation. The little money he gets from the people, he spends on drinking. We have tried many times to convince him to leave drinking habits, but our efforts seem to be abortive. He keeps on talking; hardly leaves any room for us to talk. 
But today every thing seemed to be topsy-turvey. He was rather quiet. We asked him some questions and he just replied with ‘yes’ or ‘no’. We decided to leave some food for him and leave the spot. On seeing us leaving food for him, he said, “I do not need food from you. You take back.”

We were stunned. We asked him, “why not? Are you not hungry or have you eaten already?”

“I do not need your food. You people did not wish me on my birthday. Last week was my birthday. Previously I had already told you about my birthday. But you people forgot me. In this world, no one loves me. I celebrated my birthday only with my dog.”

We realized that we completely forgot about his birthday. We had already promised him that we would celebrate his birthday. We asked sorry and assured him that the following week we would celebrate his birthday. He was silent. His eyes were filled with tears.

While coming back to my home, I remembered Christian again and again. How painfully he said that no one in this earth loves him except his dog. It would have taken just a few minutes to reach out to him on his birthday. This would have given him a great joy!

There are so many people in this earth who wait for little love and care. There are many who do not want any money or gift. Probably just a little smile or few gentile words will bring lots of joy in their life. Do we see them along the way?