kindred spirit

I recently met a woman named Mily. She was in Cambodia visiting because this is her husbands home land. He immigrated to the US during the Khmer Rouge. She works for World Bank in the DC area and I just loved talking with her about life and family.

At this particular dinner she asked me what I make for dinner living in Cambodia. I told her that she just hit a sore spot. I am of the generation of women that don't make things from scratch. My generation has grown dependent on modern conveniences like microwaves, standing mixers, and pre-packaged dough. In Cambodia, I am a miserable cook.

Mily was so encouraging and gave me great ideas like having a weekly theme for each night. Like Thursday is pizza night. The pizza may have different toppings week to week, but every Thursday the family eats pizza. There is a Mexican night and an Italian night. She said themes makes it much easier in planning and preparing meals. Such a simple thing makes such a difference!

Mily and her family went to Siem Reap for a visit. When they returned we got together again to hang out. She told me a story about attending a cultural show and wanting to get closer to the stage and then falling in the water feature in front of everyone. In her husband's words, "she became the show." Everything stopped, including the actors on stage, to make sure she was alright. I could just picture it as they told the story.

She was laughing so hard while telling the story. We were laughing too. Then she says, "do you know the moral of the story?"

I am thinking she is going to say, "watch your step" or something like that.

She doesn't.

The moral of the story according to Mily is: keep everything in your purse in plastic bags. Ha! She then proceeds to show me the inside of her purse and how each thing is individually wrapped in a plastic baggy - toilet tissue, prescription medicines, tourist maps and even their camera.

Mily has arrived back in the States and has sent me some valuable recipes for quick fix pizza dough and quiches. I love this woman and the times we spent together in recent months were incredibly enjoyable. I admire her spunk and attitude. In Mily, I found a kindred spirit.