La Responsabilité

So, my mom has always been very fond of Le Petit Prince.  I don't think I'm wise enough yet to love it as much as she does, but I already own a Chinese/English version of it.

Anyway, when I saw a book called Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal sitting on the library shelf, I pulled it off, because clearly the author of this book (Conor Grennan) already had good literary references going in his favor.  Plus, it was about social issues in Asia.  What's not to love about that?

It was a good book.  I loved it.

And it made me miss the kids who live at the House of Faith orphanage in Chiang Dao quite fiercely.  Depreena and I only spent a few nights there, and communication was limited, due to my Thai vocabulary consisting of sawadee-ka (hello) and korpkun-ka (thanks), but there was a lot of fun and laughter and love.  I remember a conversation with Mookda as we walked back from our swim time in the nearby dam about how we were sisters because we're both Christians.

As I was thinking about them, and how many places I want to be at all times (you know, back in China, back in Thailand, checking out India, etc) I started thinking about other kids who have been in my life.

Obviously my siblings.  They're my permanent guinea-pigs... stuck with me always learning how to be an older sister on them.  ^_^

But there are a lot of other kids (some of whom are, ahem, not such kids any more.  SOME OF WHOM ARE NOW TALLER THAN I AM!) who I've had the awesome opportunity to get to know and be a part of their lives.  At church camp.  In Aliquippa.  As a camp counselor.  In youth group.  At college.  And, yeah, in China and Thailand too.

Each of them have been in different parts of my life.  Sometimes we got to interact year after year, sometimes only for a couple of days.

And they have all been good gifts to me.

I pray for them, often randomly, as they come to mind.  I stalk them on facebook or google or through friends to try to find out what they're up to.  I hope to cross paths with them again sometime, I hope to hear that they're doing well and flourishing.

Because all of these kids, adopted little sibs of mine -- yeah, I still feel a little responsible for them.

"Goodbye," said the fox. "And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
"What is essential is invisible to the eye," the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember.
"It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important."
"It is the time I have wasted for my rose--" said the little prince, so that he would be sure to remember.
"Men have forgotten this truth," said the fox. "But you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose . . ."
"I am responsible for my rose," the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember.
[The Little Prince]