Of grandmothers and joy

Eboo has been a supporter of the 30 days 30 deeds blog from the first year it started, in 2011; that year he tweeted that it was his ‘personal favorite Ramadan website’, and people began to follow. This year's blog wouldn’t be complete without a wisdom that’s meaningful to him, so this morning he shared the following; as he’s traveling he wasn't able to access a photo with his Nanima (to come, iA).“I was a very earnest and serious student - my identity was caught up in my grades and performance at school. My Nanima came to live with us when I was in Middle School. She didn’t care a hoot about my grades. But she would light up when I was around. She would laugh and laugh and laugh at my stories and jokes. She would tell me stories of the Prophet’s kindness and mercy. I didn’t realize it at the time but she was illuminating for me a kingdom outside of material success - it was the kingdom of spiritual fulfillment, expressed by the kind of happiness that bursts from your pores!”Day 21 Wisdom 21: Simply, joy and kindness.PS: Eboo's own wisdom around religious diversity, interfaith service, and the importance of sharing our personal stories has been a personal inspiration, and one of his talks that a friend and I attended many years ago was the impetus for our founding an interfaith youth service organization, CAIF, for Middle and High school students, inspired by his Interfaith Youth Core. Thanks, Eboo.Please follow all 30 wisdoms on Facebook @30 days 30 deeds or on Insta/Twitter @salmahasanali; and please share your own.