Simple

Marta was born barely breathing. Her Apgar score was 3.

“What does that mean?” Her parents asked, trembling.

“She’ll be simple,” the doctor said with sympathy.

Marta stared and her parents trembled.

In preschool, Marta lagged behind the other children.

The teachers said, “She’s simple. She likes to clean.”

Marta’s parents watched wide eyed as she tidied up

the other children’s messes and smiled warm and wide.

She got C’s  and D’s in elementary school.

They said, “She works hard, but she’s simple.” 

Teachers liked her because she was generous.

“She’s always giving her lunch to other kids.”

In high school Marta struggled to pass.

She pushed a broom and served meals at a soup kitchen.

The kitchen manager said, “She’s simple, but kind.”

After four years, Marta was the head cook.

Marta went to the college. She went to several colleges.

She asked the students to help her feed the poor.

At first they balked. Eventually, many of them helped.

They said, “She’s simple, and she’s relentless.”

She asked a rich man why there were people starving.

He saw she was simple, but he couldn’t argue with her.

She used the money to start dozens of food banks, open

hundreds of soup kitchens, and feed thousands of hungry folks.

After many years and millions served,

lots of people still questioned how someone

so simple could be in charge of such a huge effort.

Marta never said anything; she just kept serving.

At the end of her life Marta had fed countless people

and built numerous kitchens. Important and successful

people came from far away to seek her council.

They asked, “What is your secret?”, “How did you do it?”

She said, “Don’t you know? I’m simple.”