Things Change...

When we arrived it was very humid. With all the excitement of arriving, I don’t remember noticing it until we were dropped off at the Center. The air feels so thick like you are in a cloud and able to cut your way through the moisture.

The rain has done more than affect the temperature, or rather what I perceive as the temperature. It has continued to erode the streets, while the block we live on looks good. The main paved road is so much scarier than I remember! Right near our house there is a divot from one side that must be a 5 foot or so drop off and it’s marked by a thin stick with a little piece of material a the top waving in the wind. A few days later the spot is fixed with red dirt… what can one do but shake their head, because it’s going to rain again.

When we entered the apartment we live in we found small puddles on the floor and most of our walls looked like that had just been hosed off. I have to say I was bracing myself for worse.

A walk around the property and I can tell the ground level is inches lower than last year. I also see that the church has been fighting more than just spiritual battles, it most recently lost it’s bought with Mother Nature. The heavy rain caused the roof to collapse.

It just couldn't hold off the heavy rain. 

After a few days of looking around trying to see which kids have changed and what new faces have appeared. I realize that I haven’t seen many of my itty-bitties, so I start asking the kids about them by name. As I go down the list I get to Eddie, who is the one I wanted to ask about first, but try to play down my favorites… who knows if it works. I find out he and his family moved. How sad is that?

I think I will try to find out where he lives so that I can go visit at least once. As tradition I print off pictures of the kids and bring them back, the picture I have is of Eddie and one other child, so I meant to print 2 of them. Instead I printed 22.

 

The pic I printed 22 times... Eddie is on the left.

I guess that’s the hard thing about coming and going, is the change. You always expect things to be just the same as you left. But the reality is things or rather people never are just the same, life continues to shape us all each and every day.