You don't have to have everything to have everything!

"Hey Debbie, your sister's friend has a little sister about your age. Do you want her to come over?"
"Uhh sure..." I replied.
"Okay when your sister is done hanging out with her friends she will bring her over." It was the summer and I was going to be bored at home all evening, so I thought I might as well hang out with somebody. Suddenly I remembered how dirty my room was. I ran upstairs and started picking up the dirty laundry off my floor. A few minutes later my mom opened the door to my bedroom, "Debbie, I just wanted to tell you that your sister said that this girl's family lives very humbly. So she might be kind of shy" she said sincerely. "Huh" I thought to myself. "What does she mean by humbly" So I shyly asked my mom "What do you mean humbly?"
"Well..." she replied. "You know the gardeners for the association that we live in?"
"Yeah?"
"Those families live humbly."
I knew exactly what she meant when she said humbly. She had meant that they basically did not have very much. My mom exited my room and left me to keep cleaning before my guest arrived.

A little while later I heard my dogs barking and knew they were here. I rushed downstairs and met a Latino girl about the same age and height as me named Mariana. I wondered why mom had said what she said; she looked and dressed the same way I did. I took her into my room and we started talking about what school she went to. I still didn't see any major difference between us. Except the fact that (like most of my friends) went to public school, whereas I was home schooled. We kept talking for the rest of the couple hours she was here. We talked about school, movies, music, friends, and boys. By the time she had to go home we were like best friends, and I had forgotten everything my mom had said.

Some time later after visiting Mariana multiple times, I received an invitation to Mariana's older sister's Quinceanera. Between the time of receiving this invitation and the actual Quinceanera Mariana called to invite me for a sleepover the night before the Quinceanera. I talked to my parents and with their consent I went that Saturday night to sleepover at her house. When I arrived at her house I realized what my mother had meant by "lives very humbly". They had a house (on another person's lot) that was slightly larger than my own living room. I had great time that night nodding and smiling politely while Mariana's extensive family tried to speak to me in Spanish, during a before-the-Quinceanera party.

When the party started winding down I realized that not many people were leaving. Allot of people were staying over night to be there for the Quinceanera the next morning. What would usually have been a two-bedroom house with five people was now a two-bedroom house with twelve people living in it. What really amazed me about that night was not my new understanding of crowded, but how much her family cared about one another. They literally treated me like part of the family. The next morning even with all the hustle and bustle of people getting ready for the Quinceanera I was never once pushed aside to get ready for the Quinceanera. When I found that I would not be able to wear my dress to the Quinceanera, Mariana lent me her dress that she was going to change into for the reception. The family even did my hair and let me ride in the limo. I stood amazed as I saw how this family never once got in an argument or stop treating each other with respect on this stressful day.

A couple months later I was informed that Mariana's family had moved away to be with some more family. Since that day of the Quinceanera I have come to realize that although Mariana's family may "live humbly" on the outside on the inside her family had everything they could possibly need.