Before diving too deeply into my post, I just wanted to tell everyone the big news, if they hadn't heard yet. I found out that I will be in Washington DC next year working at the Emmaus Services for the Aging. I will be doing a slough of things, including Bingo, teaching computer, art, music and Spanish classes if I so choose, advocating for the elderly on the steps of Washington...hahaha...and just being a kind face to a population our society has generally pushed aside. So there's the big news, I am heading to DC...onto the next big adventure! :)
So I realized last night that I haven't written much about my kids, like the kids that I picture when I hear the words, "Cardinal Shehan Center". Well, just so you know, I get to spend my afternoons with over 75 kids everyday so any given day has me thinking of a different one! BUT...just to provide a little glimpse into how lucky I am, here's a little bit about the one's I am thinking of today:
I love working mainly with the 4-7 year olds. I love the boys...they say the silliest and craziest things (they are also the least behaved). But some of my favorite kids come from this group. For today, I will limit myself to three girls from the 4-7 group. (*Changing the names because of obvious reasons).
*Kay is so cute. She is my absolute favorite. She's 4 years old and is the biggest love bug ever! As soon as she sees me, she runs up to me and holds her hands up to the sky, expecting to be held. If I don't give in at first, she will stick out her lower lip and drop her eyebrows to look extra sad and she knows I'm wrapped around her little finger so it works. I pick her up and she nestles her little face into a craves in my neck and just holds onto me. It is such a good feeling to know that a little one is depending on me for love and attention and I love giving it! She has a little pip-squeak voice and will say things like: "I'm tired and I want to go home" while she's collapsing in my arms or she'll be jumping around and will say, "I want to play the bouncy game"; granted I have no clue what the bouncy game is. She's a darling who has a huge heart. I love her.
*Then there's Mary. She is crazy. Mary is 5 or 6 (Kindergarten) and I think she has a developmental disability. She's always screaming because she doesn't understand "inside voices" or conversational tones...so she yells, a lot. Usually she's screaming, "no one wants to play with me!" and "Why?" and "Do I know you?" She'll respond "why?" to everything...if I tell her to sit down she'll ask "why", if I tell her why she needs to sit down she'll ask "why", and it'll continue down this path until I respond with, "because I said so." She's crazy. She always looks like a hot mess but she has such a big heart. She wants to love and to be loved so badly that she doesn't know how to contain it...most kids don't want to play with her because she looks like a walking mini tornado and she always wants to play "Tarzan the Monkey Man" (a hand shake game). She wears a dress everyday and we constantly have to remind her that ladies sit with their legs closed...she still hasn't grasped that concept. She's always losing her shoes and then screams about that. BUT Mary always greets me with a huge toothless smile, hugs me and kisses me. Then she'll giggle and say, "I just kissed you." She makes me happy.
*The last little one is Shanel. Shanel is 6 or 7 years old (1st Grade). Shanel always looks sad. She's always telling me how much she hates her life and how terrible her life is. When I go to pick her up, she's usually dragging her feet and looking down at the ground. I'll ask her what's wrong and she will just tell me, "my life is awful." I will ask her why and she will respond with, "it just is." On her good days, like yesterday, she will run up to me and hug me and say, "I love my K K." (no idea where that nickname came from). Back in the fall I noticed she had marks up and down her arms and I asked her what they were and she started crying. I sat her down and explained that we were friends, she could always talk to me and I was just worried that she was hurt. She kept crying and finally admitted that they were bites. But after talking to her teacher about four months later, the bites weren't gone and we both agreed that they looked more like cigarette burns. Shanel is just looking for someone, anyone to help her, to love her and I try my hardest to be there for her. Yesterday she hugged me and sang a song while rocking us both from side to side, "I love my K K because she's my best friend." When I think of the Shehan Center, I will always think of her and that song, but mostly I will think of her bad days, her terrible days and those "bites" on her arms.
So these are three little blessings in my life. I will continue to tell you all about my 75 adopted children in later posts, but for now, here's the three that are on my heart today...continue to pray for not only me, but for my kids; for hope and strength to get through the good and bad days and for love.
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