Hao's Dream and the cost of a promise.

Hao, AKA Anthony, was the one kid at the orphanage who spoke some English. He is also an artist. We gave him a large artist's sketch pad with heavy textured paper, and, as is the way of these children, he quickly set about making us each an original drawing. This drawing is the one that moved us . Cynthia and I bickered and bargained and negotiated for the rights to the original.
I came home today to find that my own children had decorated the house for my arrival. What a lovely surprise! Home is a powerful place in our lives, a place to go for relaxation, love and acceptance, a soft place to fall. And, as the late great George Carlin liked to say, home is a place to keep our stuff. It is interesting to me that if you ask a child here to draw a picture of their dream, drawing a home might not occur to them. Maybe they would draw themselves singing on a stage in front of thousands of people, or slamdunking a basketball at an NBA game, or, if you asked me to draw that picture, in it I might be happily clutching the winning powerball ticket in my hand.
In Hao's picture, his dream is so simple. A small house. A home. Not a mansion, not a fancy 3 car garage. A small cottage with a cow and a sunny day to top it off. His dream fits exactly with our priorities. A home is what we all want, and fortunately, most of us have. I wonder what our dreams might be if we did not have our homes and our families? As always, I come home with a new perspective and have made some commitments to myself and my family to make sure that this experience benefits all of us. My commitments are:
1. When I go out to do fun stuff with my kids, the cell phone will remain in the car. Since my cell phone did not work there, I did not have it with me. The shift in focus to the kids was pretty remarkable. It is like removing a needy and selfish person from the group when the cell phone is gone.
2. I will consciously appreciate my home and the stuff my husband has worked so hard to provide . Ergo, appreciate my husband. It is so easy to take it all for granted.
Ok, thats it. Baby steps and giant leaps at the same time.

How many people does it take to keep a promise? Last year I made a promise. I promised those kids I would come back. That promise was kept only because my husband and kids and parents made sacrifices for it to happen. All of our family members were as involved as if they had gone themselves. Thank you!
I asked the kids at the care center if they were surprised that we came back.What was I expecting? I suppose I was fishing for some expression of gratitude to feed my insatiable ego and help me feel magnanimous. They responded that I TOLD them I was coming in April, so I was late. They were waiting for me. Ego smack down. Like I said before, I feel small next to them.
Thats all folks! Thanks for reading the blog! The blog will continue, but with product reviews and funny stories from the crazy world of PYOP.
Special thanks to K & G , Mom and Dad, the artist who donated the matte boards for the kids (they loved them!) Michelle, Stacy, Mary, Mackenzie, Zoe, and Mark, Trevor, Tuesday, and the many friends and employees who supported us and helped to make it happen! Jon, Aja, Andy-you rock!