Couple years ago, we had a gentleman come in to clean our carpets. Eduardo. Pretty soon, he came to an Awakin Circle and even our music gathering. He started helping with many things around the house. Last year, we both even sat a 10-day meditation retreat together. Needless to say, we are close friends today.

Last week, while Guri was in a retreat in Oregon, with Rev. Heng Sure and friends, Nipun and I decided to surprise her with some upgrades around their apartment. So we got together with Eduardo and brainstormed some ideas. Along the way, though, we naturally learned more about each other and swapped stories -- like this one:

When "Eddie" was 17, he ran away from home in Mexico. His parents never filed a police report nor went looking for him. To get by, he would work odd jobs here and there. At one point, there were some openings at a hotel -- that required some basic knowledge of English, and because Eddie knew some English, he was able to coach a few of buddies. They all got the jobs. Then, it was time for his own job interview.

"Very basic questions, they would ask me. I knew all the answers, but I just couldn't speak. Ummm, Aaaah, Ummmm. No matter how hard I tried, the words just wouldn't come out of my mouth. Quite literally. I've never experienced that before," he remembered.

Well, he didn't get the job. A bit depressed, he started driving aimlessly. After some time, he pulled over. It was, lo and behold, right in front of his parents house! "What?!?" he thought to himself. "Why did I drive here?" It had been three long years since he made any contact with his parents. On this day, though, he decided to walk up to the front door and ring the doorbell.

His father opened. Immediately, he hugged him, cried and hugged him some more. Then, with a somber look, he said, "I've got some bad news. Your mother is ill. The doctor is just in the room right now. They don't know the cause of her illness but he just told me that she will probably die tonight." Stunned, Eddie walked in the hallways to see the doctor coming out of the room. The doctor confirmed what he had told his father. With a heavy heart, the twenty year old Eddie walked into the room to see his mother after three years.

"Right as she saw me walk in, her drooping eyes immediately opened wide. I think she sensed me before she even saw me," he recalled. She was sick, and on her death bed, but she could not contain her joy -- and tears -- at the sight of her beloved Eddie. And then, very spontaneously, she blurts out: "Come on, Eddie, I'm going to make you your favorite dish." She quickly untangled all the tubes, got up with all her hospital clothes, and stormed out of the room while holding Eddie's hand in her palm.

The doctor and Eddie's Dad were still in the living room, and in response to their shocked faces, she challengingly declared, "What? I'm making my son's favorite meal." And she did.

Eduardo, recalling this story with tools in his hands, concludes with this: "She lived that night.  Not only that, she lived for another fifteen years after that."

Fif-teen y-e-a-r-s.

In a soft whisper he adds, "I think she just missed her son."