It was Raquelita, my "adopted niece"!!!! I nearly cried, I was so glad to see her! And she had recognized me from across the room and had ran over to sit in my lap... (':
God knows JUST when to send a hug our way.
*sighs*
After her mother left her, asleep and alone in the house, Raquelita had such a sadness come over her. (who wouldn't?) Her eyes were always melancholy and prone to tear-up and she became very thin. Now, she's neeeeeeearly on the chubby side and the sparkle is back in her eyes and her giggle is IRRESISTIBLE! ^_^
I can hardly believe she's already 3!!!!!!
=O
Kids grow up so fast..
TOO fast, sometimes.
Amilcar came by the house a few nights back. He didn't know I was back from the USA.
He was drunk nearly every day of his life for I THINK 28 years. He's had an ulcer on his leg ever since I met him, and for a while I thought he was going to lose his leg. I scrubbed and bandaged and cared for his leg for like 3 weeks straight, trying to save him from having to have it amputated. He lived on our porch for roughly 3 weeks, and I became his personal (*sad face* and sometimes unwilling) nurse. He manage to stay away from the bottle for most of that time. I introduced him to hot tea. "Te caliente" is what he would call it.
After many months of prayers, from lots of people, (thank you, to those friends who prayed for him!!) Amilcar allowed God to change his life. He no longer drank, and would preach to his friends. I could hear him coming down the street because he would always sing a hymn, VERY loud, as he walked.
But the other evening when he came by...he was drunk.
After stayin dry for 5 years, he is drinkin again. Just like before.
I was in the kitchen, cooking supper, when I heard his voice in the doorway.
I marched over to him and demanded to know whether he was drinking or not. He denied it, in a very slurred voice, and then staggered back. I could smell the beer on him from where I was standing--a good three meters away. I told him that it made me very sad to see him drunk. And I think I told him not to come back is he was drunk. *winces*
I went back to the kitchen.
I didn't want to see him or speak to him.
I was very hurt and angry.
After staying sober for so long...and his leg was nearly healed when I left for the USA..
I heard Amilcar talking to Paul, my younger brother.
Amilcar was crying, "I didn't think she would ever come back. I thought she was gone. I didn't know she was here...she saw me like this! I made her sad. I'm going to kill myself. I didn't want her to see me like this. I didn't think she was coming back."
I felt bad for being angry. I wanted to go back out and offer him a cup of hot tea, but he had already left.
I hope he comes back.
I'd scrub his leg every day for three weeks again, if it meant 5 more sober years for him..
My sister April and I went with a bus-load of people from the Reformed Church for a baptism this morning.
13 people were baptized! Praise Jesus! (:
We met some new "young people" and I discovered that my skills at eating with a tortilla (instead of a fork) are a teeny bit rusty. ^_^
Someone had brought along two guitars and we had lots of fun "jamming" and singing whatever popped into our heads to sing.
Most of the youth from the church sat in the back of the bus, and the two guitarists got everyone singing at the top of our lungs to praise and worship songs ALL the way back to the church.
Today is also the anniversary of the death of Ricardo and Rosi's baby, Sandra Marisela.
April and I went to the cemetery with Rosi and a few others and then they came to our house to see the video I made of the pictures and video clips I took the day of the funeral.
I made it the day after the funeral, but I hadn't shown it to them before today because I was afraid it would be too hard for them to watch.
(Here's the link to the video: http://sandralapreciosa.blogspot.com/ )
I'm glad I waited til today..It WAS hard to watch..but they liked it and were glad to get to see the pictures of their beautiful baby.
A lot of their family came over to see it too. There was quite a crowd gathered around our computer, watching the video and passing around the toilet paper to dry the tears.
Once the movie was over, a few of the children stayed behind to drink coffee and color pictures at the table with Matthew and Hannah.
All of them gave me a tight hug and a teary smile as they filed out the door.
I didn't realize JUST how much I missed mi gente...or how much they missed me (':
