Cheri, Cheri! Come Quick!

“Baba, what are you doing?” she asked him incredulously. “I’m mending the tent,” he replied, not moving his eyes from the sewing machine. “How do you know how to sew?” she continued. Clearly, she was having trouble incorporating what her eyes were revealing to her. Baba stopped the machine. He slowly turned his head and looked at her with a sly smile on his face. “Why are you so surprised that I can sew?” he asked her. “Well,” Cheri fumbled, “I just, um, had no idea you knew how.” “Well,” Baba began, “I needed to fix the tear in this tent.” “But why didn’t you have Gram to do it for you?” Cheri wondered aloud. “Well, you never know if someone will be around to help you out or do something for you when you need it,” Baba stated. “So I have always assumed that either I do know how to do it or will be able to figure it out for myself.” “Wow,” said Cheri. Baba eyed her with a very serious look. “A person needs to learn how to rely on himself,” Baba declared. “Never think that you can’t do something just because you don’t know how. Have someone teach you or figure it out on your own. You can never have too many skills.”