Happy Thailand

"Happyyyyy Thailand! Happyyyyy Thailand!"

Not the words I expected to hear the night before my wedding after crying from the stress of the many details that seemed so important that I needed to figure out for the next day.

But these words are two of the few English words that my new grandmother-n-law knows.

Those two words, which she probably learned from a commercial promoting tourism in Thailand, her vibrant eyes, and uplifting smile, were part of the remedy to cure my stressed-out-bride syndrome. As sweet Grandma kept repeating them, holding my hand in her worn and wrinkled fingers, and smiling as big as ever, I started to giggle and smile at her compassionate heart. Slowly the stress and sadness began to float away, to be replaced with "Happy Thailand."

I'm sure part of my heartache was that my American family wasn't there to hold me and wipe away my worries the night before the big day. I could tell that Grandma wanted to speak to me directly, in my language, to try to lift up my hurting heart. She couldn't speak profound, eloquent words, but her simple attempts, giving me the only positive words she knew to speak, were just what

I needed.

My grandma-n-law has taught me many things already. One of them being, that you never need the perfect words or actions to show love, or encourage someone. All you need to do is give out of a compassionate, loving heart what you have--whether you think it is a lot, or nothing at all--it is enough and just what they need.