seeing old friends

yes...the past 2 weeks have been stressful...but there have also been some really beautiful moments. times when i get to see old friends again. oh the beauty!

earlier this week i went to visit 2 boys who attend boarding school. their mother was a friend of WMF. She died in December. when i was here in 2007 i spent a lot of time with this family (they also have a younger sister). the time i spent with them was really significant for me. moments playing with them in their room. silly games, tickling, sitting with them. there were also hard moments with these boys...things i couldn't wrap my mind around. times when i wanted to protect them - but couldn't. i remember these boys.

but wouldn't really expect that i was equally significant in their lives. i was a foreigner who spent time with them a handful of times over the course of 3 months...and that was 3 years ago. they were 5 and 6 yrs old when i was here before. i wouldn't expect them to remember me. but they do. i don't get it, but they remember me. so on monday i got to go visit them. i wouldn't have recognized them if i'd seen them on the street. they're so much bigger than they were. they've been through a lot these past 3 years - but seem to be in a good place now. we didn't get to stay for long, and the visit was a bit chaotic, but it was good to see them. looking forward to seeing them again.

and then there were the first visits to the Sari Bari Units. oh beautiful friends. big hugs. joy. its really good to see the ladies again...and its good to know i'll be spending quite a bit of time with them in the future. for all my bangla study its still really hard to understand the ladies most of the time. they talk fast, and not always clearly (like i speak English)...i'm so excited for relationships to grow and deepen with the ladies. so many new names to learn...and dear old friends to re-connect with.

these moments are beautiful. and affirming.