.

She didn’t like any of us. As new teachers in the Emirati school, we Westerners greeted those old teachers, including her of course every day, but she    21    us. Whenever we saw her, she    22    eve contact with us. Her friends had been fired from the school and we had been    23    in their places. That might be the    24    for it.

One day, we had a secret friend gifting and I drew her    25    from the box. That meant she was my secret friend. According to the rules, my    26    was to give her a gift and say something about her when we    27    acknowledged who our secret friends were.

If you wished, you could    28    little gifts on your secret friend’s desk before the day of the “reveal ”. In the following several days, I sent three gifts altogether, but I wrote the messages to    29    the gifts in English. She needed to know her secret friend was a Westerner before the day of the “big reveal” so that she was    30   . I wondered how she would    31    when she realized these were from one of the Westerners.

Then came the day of the “reveal”. We all    32    in the staff meeting room and everyone was excited. She  33    music in the school and was    34    sending the morning  ignal, so I said, “My secret friend is someone who brings music to our ears every day of the week.” I didn’t even need to say her name, because everyone knew    35    who I meant.

She came forward with a warm and    36    smile. She hugged me and kissed me on both cheeks and gladly  37    my gifts.

My dear friends, I    38    my hand in friendship and    39    I have been met with love and friendship. We must have    40    in seeing the goodness in others. It is there and we may just need to show extra love to obtain the rewards.