Nine Eggs

When I was growing up, we had a neighbor named Mae. And Mae liked to borrow things without returning them. I remember my mother growing aggravated with Mae's "forgetfulness."

This is the background to my borrowing episode yesterday. I was in the middle of making avocado bread and realized I had no eggs. I'd used the last of them making meringue for Tracy's birthday pie. Without wheels and far into the recipe, I went to Amai Zulu's house to see if she had eggs. I was a little embarassed because I needed nine eggs as I was tripling the recipe. That's a lot of eggs. But my neighbor generously gave me what I needed.

Today I learned a Zambian lesson about friendship. After returning from the grocery store I placed nine eggs in a plastic bag and walked to my neighbor's. Theresa met me at the door and said, "Here is the lesson for the day." She proceeded to tell me that it is offensive to return things that are borrowed. While she wasn't offended because she knows us, she said that I was not expected to return the eggs. I then asked her, "So, you would prefer I not return the eggs?" "Yes," was the answer, because we are friends. I am nine eggs richer~but richer to me is knowing that we are friends.