It's been a long day, but a good day. I started our first mentors of the year at 7am today...and I left the school about 40 minutes ago. Today it was all returning mentors so my job was basically to witness several reunions of children and their mentors. For many kids it's a mix of shock (they can't really believe this person came back like they said they would) and delight (at seeing their 'best friend' for the first time in a loooooong time--since June!).
But my favorite moment today happened with Michael (my buddy rockin the sombrero in the photo). Michael is a very reserved Chinese boy that struggles with English. He has a hard time looking adults in the eye and I have never really seen much of his personality...that is until today!
Imagine this scene... As I was walking down the steps to the playground, I saw a small body in motion running towards me (sans sombrero). Literally I just caught a glimpse of the face and determined it was a boy before he tackled me in a huge bear hug. After a few moments I pull back enough to see that it truly is Michael! In this uncharacteristically affectionate moment, I said, "Michael it is so good to see you". And he says, "I'm so happy, I start hope this week" ("Kids Hope" is the name of our program but for some reason the kids just call it 'hope' which I love!). And without missing a beat he says, "When will Grace be here?" (Grace is the name of his mentor). I told him that Grace and I will pick him up from class on Wednesday, but in my heart of hearts, I knew that grace was already there with us...
It's been a long day, but a good day. 
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