The winter wind bit through my coat butdidn’t dampen1 my cheerfulness as I carriedmy four jars2 of home-canned tomatoes intothe church basement. Excited to take part infeeding the less fortunate3 in our communityat Christmas， I joined my school classmatesas we boxed the goods for delivery4.

That year， we went to Bobby’s house.He was one grade ahead of me in school，but I never knew he was poor. When wetook the box inside the small house， I sawbedrooms had been created by hangingsheets over ropes. Bobby came home whilewe were there， blushed5， and disappearedbehind a divider.

My heart ached for him. Even as aseven-year-old， I understood embarrassment.After we returned to the church， my teacherpulled me aside. I thought she was going todiscuss Bobby’s situation， but she didn’t.

“Linda， we collected a lot of food thisyear. You have a large family. Why don’tyou take this extra box home with you？”She picked up the cardboard container，expecting me to accept the food.

“No. That’s for poor people.”

“All people need help at times，”shesaid.“

“Well， we don’t.”I pushed open the doorand walked three blocks to myhouse.

Were we poor？ I began to look at ourfamily with what I considered impartial6，grown-up eyes and concluded that we weredefinitely poor.

My mother never suffered fools， andshe didn’t tolerate7 whining8. After twodays， she asked to know why I’d beenmoping9.

“We’re poor.”

“Who said that？”she asked.

“Nobody said it. I figured it out.”Icouldn’t look her in the eye. She’d beenhiding this important truth from us.

“Why do you think we’re poor？”

I listed reasons， becoming bolder10 asI elaborated11 on my realizations.“Thechurch wanted to give us food. We don’thave a car， only a pick-up， and we have toride in the back when we go places. Theteachers offered to buy us shoes for thisschool year. And most of the clothes in mycloset are hand-me-downs from a girl inmy class. I never thought about it， butwhat if people are laughing about mewearing her clothes？”

“Are you done？”

I wracked12 my brain for otherexamples but came up with none.

My mother poured a cup of coffee andsat at the kitchen table. Maybe she hadn’tknown what people thought about us.

She stirred in a spoonful of sugar andsipped13. “We are not poor. We areexceedingly14 rich.”

This statement got my attention， and Igrabbed a chair.“We are？”

“Do you have a healthy body？ Canyou run and play without any problem？”

I nodded. I was the fastest girl in ourclass.

“Do you have a good mind？ Are you agood reader？ Is there a library where youcan learn about anything that interests you？”

I nodded again. My mother oftenreminded us that she only had an eighth -grade education， but she expected every oneof her seven children to earn collegedegrees. I now felt embarrassed aboutbringing up the subject.

“Do you ever go to bed hungry？”Sheput down her cup. “I know you don’t. Wehave a wonderful garden， and you eat wellyear-round. Canned food doesn’t taste asgood as home-grown. I should buy some tinsjust to prove it.”

“But the rich people buy their food incans，”I protested.

“Because they don’t have gardens. Peoplein some places in the world don’t get enough toeat. You do. And people in some places in theworld don’t have many clothes， hand-me-downsor not. Clothes aren’t important.”

“But people think we’re poor.”

“Well， they’re wrong. You get to goto school and play， while some children inthis world have to work. You’re free. Youcan go where you want to go， and pursue15any dream you can imagine. You are notpoor！ You’re rich！ I expect you toremember that every day of your life.”

I never brought up the subject again.

Now that I’m older， I marvel16 at theriches we enjoyed， even on Christmaseswhen there weren’t many presents underthe tree.

I’ve often heard the saying，“I’vebeen rich， and I’ve been poor. Rich isbetter.”

I know rich is better， for I’m anexceedingly wealthy woman.

“琳達，我們今年收集了很多食物。你有一個大家庭。你為什么不把這個多余的一箱帶回家呢？”她拿起紙板箱，希望我能接受這些食物。

“不，那是給窮人的。”

“所有人都有需要幫助的時候?！彼f。

“好啦，我們不需要?！蔽彝崎_門，走了三個街區(qū)回到我家。

我們窮嗎？我開始用我認為公正、成熟的眼光審視我們的家庭，并得出結(jié)論，我們肯定很窮。

我母親從不容忍愚蠢的人，她也不容忍抱怨。兩天后，她問我為什么一直悶悶不樂。

“我們很窮?！?/p>

“誰說的？”她問道。

“沒人說。我自己想出來的?！蔽覠o法直視她的眼睛。她一直在向我們隱瞞這個重要的真相。

“你為什么認為我們很窮？”

我列出了原因，在詳細闡述我的認識時變得更加大膽?！敖烫孟虢o我們食物。我們沒有車，只有一輛皮卡車，去哪兒都得坐在后面。老師們主動提出給我們買本學年的鞋子。我衣柜里的大部分衣服都是班上一個女孩給我的。我從來沒有想過，但如果人們嘲笑我穿她的衣服怎么辦？”

“你說完了嗎？”

我絞盡腦汁想找其他的例子，但一個也沒有想出來。

我母親倒了一杯咖啡，坐在廚房的桌子旁。也許她不知道人們對我們的看法。

她攪拌了一勺糖，啜飲著?！?我們并不貧窮。我們非常富有。”

這個說法引起了我的注意，我抓來一把椅子?！拔覀兪菃?？”

“你的身體健康嗎？你能沒有任何問題地奔跑和玩耍嗎？”

我點了點頭。我是班上跑得最快的女生。

“你有好的頭腦嗎？你善于閱讀嗎？有沒有圖書館可以讓你了解任何你感興趣的東西？”

我又點了點頭。我母親經(jīng)常提醒我們，她只受過八年級的教育，但她希望她的七個孩子中的每一個都能獲得大學學位。現(xiàn)在提起這個話題我感到很尷尬。

“你曾經(jīng)餓著肚子上床睡覺嗎？”她放下杯子。“我知道你沒有。我們有一個很棒的花園，你全年都吃得很好。罐頭食品的味道不如自家種植的好。我應該買一些罐頭來證明這一點?！?/p>

“但是有錢人買罐頭食品?！蔽曳瘩g道。

“因為他們沒有花園。世界上有些地方的人吃不飽。而你吃得飽。世界上有些地方的人沒有幾件衣服，不管是不是二手貨。衣服不重要。”

“但人們認為我們很窮。”

“哎呀，他們錯了。你可以上學和玩耍，而這個世界上的一些孩子必須工作。你是自由的。你可以去你想去的地方，追求你能想象的任何夢想。你不窮！你很富有！我希望你生命中的每天都記住這一點?！?/p>

我再也沒有提起這個話題。

現(xiàn)在我長大了，我對我們所享受的財富感到驚訝，即使是在圣誕樹下沒有太多禮物的圣誕節(jié)。

我經(jīng)常聽到這樣一句話：“我富有過，我貧窮過。富有當然更好。”

我知道富有更好，因為我是一個非常富有的女人。