Accept the children the way we accept trees – with gratitude, because they are a blessing – but do not have expectations or desires. You don’t expect trees to change, you love them as they are. – Isabel Allende
For the second week of Hope‘s summer camp, we stayed at the Cosmic condo – a five minute walk from camp, in a different neighborhood, King East / St Lawrence Market. It’s an area I know well too; our offices used to be just a block away.
At the condo, Hope had her own room and some privacy, and we spent less time together than the week before. One morning she wasn’t feeling well and stayed home sick. I made her chicken and rice soup from scratch, and thankfully she was better by the next morning.
On one of the days she was at camp, I went into her room and read the journal she’d been keeping of these weeks. She was homesick, and missed her home – that was what she’d written in it almost every day.
I was glad I read it. It helped me see that some of what I’d been feeling was disappointment over unmet expectations. I’d been excited about this time together as a chance to really get to know her, and for her to get to know me. What I got instead was different – she was guarded, polite, and well-behaved.
By the end of it all, the family was reunited and the two weeks were over. We’d each return to our own lives, where we were each Princess.
Grateful for the kindness of the Cosmics in letting us stay at their condo, for the two weeks with Hope and for the summer camp that YPT runs.
