Rich Hearts on the Road

I’ve visited countries near and far, finding unexpected riches in many places.
In the poorest areas of rural China, tiny old ladies with backs bent from working the rice fields all their lives smiled as if I was their own grandson. In remote villages in Russia, where people make do without running water, strangers fed me strong soup, washed down with stronger vodka.
When I returned home, my former neighbor pointed a gun at me when I walked up to his door in my travel-weary clothes, yelling about trespassing.
Home, it seemed, has become the poorest country in the world.