Saying Goodbye

With Friday night came our last 8 hours with the orphans. We threw a huge goodbye party- there was dancing, eating, laughing, and crying. The younger girls and boys showed us a few of their dances, which were wonderful! Srey Niet is the lead dancer and is so graceful when she dances. I was smiling the whole time watching her. She's so beautiful! All of their dances were so cute to watch, especially the one in which the boys would yell and bob their heads in a way that I didn't really understand.

I spent a good portion of the day playing volleyball- a sport that, no surprise, I am extremely bad at. Half of the game was mostly the older boys laughing at me because I couldn't hit the ball! I'm happy to say, though, I was laughing along with them. They're so good at that game that I'm watching open-mouthed and jealous every time. Some of the boys play for money every day at five. One thing I'm going to miss- their constant volleyball instruction with a dash of Khmer accent.

After dinner, which was after volleyball, our party really started. It got dark fairly quickly (or quicker than I'm used to, at least) and they had a few strobe lights to ensure maximum party-ability. Ruat, one of the older boys, made sure that I didn't rest a bit during this party. I'm glad he did! I had so much fun dancing with them all night. Best dance party ever- especially when we were dancing along to songs in Khmer where we couldn't even pronounce the lyrics.

Saying goodbye was hard. I don't think I've ever had to do anything that has broken my heart that much. It took us so long to leave- everywhere you stepped there would be another sobbing child that you hadn't hugged, and you'd run up to them because you were sobbing too. I couldn't stop thinking about if I would ever see them again or if they would ask the next group about me or if they would even remember me in the future. I think they will- the connections I've made with these kids aren't something that I think either of us will forget. Two of the girls asked me to be their sister. One asked me to be her new mommy. I said yes to all of them. I'm relieved that the next group is coming soon. Every one of those kids has their own story to share and love to give and I'm glad that there are more people out there willing to accept it. I'm so grateful that I got to know them all. And, as Jack advised us, I'm done crying because it's over, and I'm going to smile because it happened.

"How lucky I am to have something that makes me say goodbye so hard." -A.A. Milne