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| Exercises |
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| learning to love and read |
This diary is titled for my girls who show great compassion to those in need. To fulfill our ongoing craving to give back to our world and give thanks for all the gifts we have, we have once again volunteered to be a family mentor for the International Rescue Committee.
I first met the family at the children's hospital where I saw a frightened mom with a baby tied on her back pushing a stroller. The boy was beautiful and revealed his neuromuscular impairment when he tried to shake my hand. His smile lit up the room and I was attached before I could take the next breath.
They were accompanied by an IRC worker who told me they recently came from a refugee camp in Cameroon. They live in Clarkston and the mom is here without family or significant other.
I spoke with my girls and they expressed interest in providing support to the family.
We met them at their apartment and started to connect immediately. We converse in my broken french and are using simple books to teach English.
The highlight is playing outside in the neighborhood where kids often join us while we set up games and make chalk pictures. I spend a bit of my time helping the little boy with his exercises and showing mom different techniques for feeding him.
I have visited several times more trying to piece together her story and how her little one became impaired.
Thank you for following us as this relationship blossoms. The visits are always bittersweet as there is plenty of laughter with Bea chasing kids around the parking lot. But knowing that they left everyone and everything behind, and under duress........ these are not happy thoughts
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| beautiful mom and baby |
