Last week, after yet another doctor’s appointment, I took Mona to her all-time favorite restaurant for lunch (shhhh!!!!! don’t tell the dietician–apparently this particular buffet was definitely on the “forbidden” list . . . but she did make relatively wise food choices while she was there, I have to say. Which is more than I can say for myself!)

Going anywhere with Mona is an adventure. On this particular day, we caught the attention of a family at the table next to us, as they overheard Sara and I passing judgment on each food item Mona came back to the table with. Finally, the woman at this table grinned and told us, “He’s diabetic too” and pointed to her husband. At that point, her husband laughed and said, “I knew that you guys were going to flip when you saw her coming back with that (insert forbidden food item here)!”

 I get embarrassed sometimes when these kinds of interactions happen. I worry about what people really think of her–and of me. But later on that evening, it occurred to me that this is the thing that I love about Mona . . . that, unique as she may be (and trust me, “unique” doesn’t even begin to cover it!), or as “different” as I tell myself that her background and life experiences are from my own, the reality is that I *am* Mona, that really I have more in common with her than I sometimes want to admit.

When people who don’t know Mona try to understand why she is in my life, the best way I can describe it is to say to them, “Mona grows on you.” And yes, she can also make me very, very tired at times . . . but the truth is that I have yet to find the words to say what I want to say, which is that I know that God brought her into my life for a reason, and that He still has things He wants to teach me through her.

I hope that I will learn those lessons well.