We had to badger Lisa to stop her from getting clothes for her sons, and getting something for herself. She confided softly that she badly needed some new shoes, and we took her to the shoe section at Wal-Mart where she chose some slip-on shoes – her sons brought her shoes they liked – and she tried them on right on the floor.

Once we knew her size, we bought three pairs of shoes for her. The most expensive was $9.98. Lisa said she has not had a new pair of shoes for six or seven years. She is 27 years old.

Lisa usually will only smile when she thinks of her late husband, killed by a roadside bomb while driving food to American soldiers. She says he made them all smile, and it is hard for her to smile now. She did smile a few times when she saw how happy her sons were with the toys and clothes they got.

This, Ali and I know, will help them tremendously in school, where American kids place a great value on clothes, and they have been  taunting Baseer and Mudasir because they wear the same old clothes again and again.

This felt really good.