The Blog

There is one person in Belgium that I have spent and devoted more of my time with than anyone else. He has caused me to experience a whole range of emotions and has given me memories I will never forget. Like the time I had given him his lunch and stood across from him cleaning up and he whispered across the table, "Jess, me give you a kiss", and then after giving him a kiss, ten minutes later whispering again, "Jess, me give you two kisses." I am so proud of the fact that he tells the maid "thank you for cleaning the room of me!" without being told anymore. It may be that he is only 2 and a half years old, but he has helped me get through long days by giving me a hug or a kiss and making me laugh by insisting to wear his funny sun hat, pink sunglasses or his cat mask to school in the morning. I may try to deny the fact that I will miss him when I go home, but I know that he has touched a place in my heart and I will never be able to forget the year I spent with him here. Because I am ready to continue on with my own life, I don't feel that it will be terribly difficult to say goodbye, but I do know I will miss him when I need a hug or a kiss or that unrestrained, love without question that he gives. I have learned so much from him in this year and I am amazed to see that he has learned things from me too. I have to laugh when he pouts and says, "me sad Jess" because I see in him the same "sad"face I make at him when I am disappointed in something he does (like tear his napkin into tiny pieces and then sprinkle them all over the floor or hit his sisters on the head with a stick). Both of my sisters are pregnant and will be having babies this fall and I am so excited for them because I know how many wonderful moments they will be discovering as they play and teach their children. I never understood children as intimately as I have come to in this past year--before my knowledge of children was limited to the development stages I had learned in different University courses in the past years. It has been a difficult year, and an emotionally and physically demanding job, but I wouldn't trade it for any other year--and I definitely would not trade Clarence for any other 2 year old with which to experience it with.