The Spirit of Giving

I posted quite some time ago about my involvement in a project called Operation Grenada Child.  Well, that project wrapped up last week as 80, yes I said 80 shoeboxes filled with Christmas gifts were handed out to the children of the Limes After School Program in Grenada, West Indies. 

I of course was not present for the gift distribution, but I was lucky enough to be in Grenada when all of the boxes arrived.  And am of course thrilled that so many pictures were taken by volunteers during the days festivities, specifically a saint of a man named James Forester who gave up his time to come photograph the day.  I cry happy tears every time I look through them.  The pictures fill me with the Christmas spirit more than Christmas trees, presents, stockings, and holiday lights ever could.

I KNOW that these children will remember this special Christmas for a long long time and I am so very honored that I had even a little part in the happiness that these gifts brought them. 

Here's a video of the days events, complete with games, reindeer puppet making, present opening, and a special lunch.

May it touch your heart just as it has touched mine. 

Merry Christmas.

A Bit of Closure

...and some sunshine too.

The trip to Grenada is over.  After 11 days in island paradise with my Limes kids, I feel like I may finally be able to move forward.  Of course I will always miss Grenada and the kids.  And I enjoyed every second of every moment that I spent with them, but I feel like after the trip, I was finally able to start letting that part of my life go.  Maybe someday I will go back and I will continue to pray for those children daily but it's time to move on.  And I'm finally okay with that. 

I have faith that there will always be volunteers who will fall in love with those kids just like I did and they will make sure that the children are getting the love and support that they deserve.  I will continue to remain as active as I can through projects like Operation Grenada Child and any other things that come along, but my life is in California, with Josh, and there isn't anywhere else I'd rather be.

So here's some photos of my time in Grenada.  Moments I'll never forget and treasure forever.

Life Lately

Well it's been somewhat hectic.  Which may account for my lack of blogging in recent weeks. Maybe it's just this time of year, you know, Thanksgiving, Christmas, seeing family and friends regularly.  Or maybe I've just been lazy.  Either way, I'm vowing to do better.

So what's been going on with us?

*Well, Josh started his surgical rotation last week.  His first two weeks are in Orthopedic Surgery which was his elective choice. He could choose between Ortho, Ear Nose and Throat, and Burn.  He listed Ortho first and got it, however I'm not sure he was thrilled that it was the first two weeks. Oh well. Students were off on Monday for the Veteran's day holiday, but don't you worry, even with Monday off, he has still managed to work over 75 hours this week...and counting.  He's still at the hospital right now.  The good news is, in the moments I've gotten to say a few words to him, since most of this week he's been working or sleeping, he says he REALLY likes surgery.

*I got a job!  Yay! I started working at Redlands Gymnastics Club two weeks ago.  I'm only working about 15 hours a week, but that is perfect for me.  The pay is just so so, but it gets me out of the house regularly and keeps me interacting with persons other than my dog. :)  Good timing considering the surgery rotation is 12 weeks long!

*Operation Grenada Child has been breezing right along.  In fact, almost all of the boxes have arrived at my apartment and the plan is to ship them out tomorrow!  It's been so fun to see what kind of things people have put in their shoeboxes.  They have all come in looking amazing and I just know the kids are going to be so thrilled. I mean I don't know if many of the little girls have ever gotten a barbie doll or Dora doll brand new in the original packaging.  Or a little boy who's ever had his own set of brand spankin' new toy cars or a new football.  I just can't wait.  And I can't wait to get these boxes out of my house.  They are taking over!!

*Speaking of Grenada...I leave a week from today for my 11 day visit!  In seven short days I will be reunited with my island in the sun and my Limes kids.  Ahh there really just are no words to describe my excitement.

So that's what has been going on with us.  What have you been up to?

Operation Grenada Child

As many of my readers know, I was heavily involved in the Limes After School Program during my year in Grenada.  And I think it has become completely obvious to people that I miss the children I worked with terribly.  But in the past week or so, I have had some friends inspire me to continue to try and make a difference in this world as well as remain active in these children's lives, even from a distance. 

I may no longer be in Grenada, but I still have tools in the form of public media and lots of friends and family that have been touched by my journey that I can use to help the Limes kids.  With the help of last terms Significant Other's Organization President Sarah and the current Limes coordinators in Grenada Julie and Laura we came up with the idea of Operation Grenada Child.  Our goal is to get 60 shoeboxes filled with Christmas goodies for these precious children who quite honestly might not receive anything on Christmas day.  In fact, last year I specifically remember asking one child if they were excited for Christmas and Santa and he responded despondently, "Miss, Santa doesn't visit Grenada."

If you've ever read my blog and wondered what you could do to help the Limes program, or if you've wanted to find some type of program that you could help make a difference in, here is your chance.  Please go to THIS  link and sign up to send a child a shoebox full of presents for Christmas.  It's only $20.00, but that $20.00 will go a long way.  All the way to the island of Grenada in fact!

If you don't have time for shopping, or it just isn't your thing, monetary donations will be accepted to help with shipping via a pay pal account on the website.  Or, you can send me a check and I will put a box together for you.  And lastly, if money is tight and you just can't afford to make a box, please pass the word along to your friends and family.  Help us spread the news!  You will be helping to make a significant difference in these children's lives.  And it really can't happen without YOU!

Feeling a bit nostalgic...

...what else is new?

Today, my good SO friend Sarah (whom I've now lived near in 3 different countries) and I went to a restaurant in Redlands called Dhat Island, Caribbean-Creole Cuisine.  Yup, "daht."  We were both aching for a touch of island in our lives and any place with the word "daht" in the name is most definitely islandish. 

The food was great, a lot yummier than some of my island food experiences.  Who knew that seeing plaintains on a menu would make me both happy and sad at the same time? 

It's always nice to have someone around that understands the life you've lived for the past two years as the spouse of a medical student and who's living a similar one now.  Someone who's trying to deal with transitions just like you are.

I don't want to live in the past, I want to seize hold of the here and now.

But of course, I couldn't help coming home from lunch and looking through old pictures of the Limes kids and watching videos of sweet Kyla, sassy Shanika, and silly Miguel.  It's impossible not to miss children that made perhaps the biggest impact on my life thus far.

I'm saving my pennies to go back to Grenada for a visit.  Anybody want to pitch in? :)

Oh how I miss...

...Grenada.
 
June 21, 2011.  It was one year ago today that Josh and I boarded a plane at LAX bound for the tiny island of Grenada.  We didn't know what to expect as we flew a few thousand miles across the world.  I was unsure about how we would fair in a third world country, but when I saw Grand Anse Beach on day one, I fell in love.  When I met my Limes kids, well, I fell even harder.  And the love affair has continued ever since. 

We've been back in the United States for 6 weeks, and while I have enjoyed the great restaurants, cheap groceries, central air-conditioning, clothes dryer, and dishwasher, I miss my island.  I miss my beaches.  I miss my kids.

I can't help but think about my days in terms of Grenada time.  Oh, it's 11:00am, if I were in Grenada I might be going over to Magazine Beach for an afternoon of some of the most amazing snorkeling on the island followed by a pina colada or two :) from Aquarium which is right down the beach.

Or maybe I'd be at Grand Anse Beach where the water is the most crystal clear you could ever imagine and it's not a normal day there unless I find at least one sand dollar.

If I wasn't wanting to make a huge effort to get there, I would just take a five minute walk over to Lance Aux Epines Beach to enjoy the black sand and the barely there waves.

Or perhaps some of us SO's would have taken a little drive over to La Sagesse Beach.  Where the cove is so very private and you can wade out in the water for what feels like forever because it never gets too deep. 

And if we were feeling extremely adventuresome, we would have driven up to Levera on the Northern tip of the island so that we could gaze out at the little islands to the North while enjoying the peace and quiet.

It's 3:00pm you say?  Well then I should be heading over to the Limes field for some non-stop fun with my kids.  I tell you you've never seen happy until you've seen Kyla's face light up as she skips out to see you.  Her smile melts even the toughest boy's heart.

It's getting close to 6:00pm. As the day winds down, there's just enough time to get down to the beach to watch one of the many beautiful sunsets over the Caribbean Sea.

Yes, I miss it.  I miss it all.  And I miss it terribly.  We left for Grenada one year ago and as quickly as I snapped my fingers, it was over.

It's so hard to move forward, when all I really want to do is go back.

Letters from Limes

My best friend Julie did the sweetest thing for me.  She gave me something that I will treasure forever.  Notes from my Limes babies. 

She, with the help of other Limes volunteers had the kids write me notes while I was home in CA for a week back in April.  I went to visit her this weekend in Santa Clarita to help her with wedding crafts and she gave me all the notes with a photo album of some of my favorite pictures of the kids from the past year. 

I would be lying if I didn't admit that it made me miss them even more than I already do, but I'm still so happy to have them.

Naomi loved the snack :)

The Rocket ship turned turkey?!?!

You IS the best teacher ever.....melt my heart Mikel

And what was the most hilarious one of the bunch....

I THINK it's a person!

Who drew this beautiful card might you ask??  Miguel of course. :)

It hurt my heart so much to leave these children, but I'm delusional if I think that us leaving doesn't affect the kids as well.  Some of them are hurting just like I am.

They are still missing you Miss Kelsey.

Thank you Julie for my sweet letters.  You have no idea how much I love them.

A Mixture of Emotions

Yesterday was such a strange day.  My emotions have been on a roller coaster ride full of ups and downs and loop-the-loops. 

On one hand, I am so thrilled for Josh.  He has successfully completed his first two years of medical school and it's impossible not to be proud of all of his hard work and dedication to his studies.  There have been many nights where I have peeked into his "mancave" at an ungodly hour of the night as he slaves over his books and his computer and thought  I seriously don't know if I could ever do this.  I am so excited for his future as a doctor and I know that he will be the kind of caring, compassionate, knowledgeable, and empathetic doctor that we all want to go to.  He's excited for clinical rotations, heck he's even excited to study and take the Step 1 because that means that he's this much closer to being an M.D. and all of his excitement makes it impossible not to be excited for him, for us.

But the other side of the coin is the fact that we are leaving Grenada.  Three days is all that we have left on this little island and while his emotions about being done with school and moving forward are all positive, he knows that my heart is heavy.  Even yesterday, when many of his classmates were celebrating immediately post-finals, jumping on cars, taking shots in the student center, and clinking champagne glasses (yes this was all happening on campus), my amazing husband came to Limes with me for the last day of class.  He was there to support me and to love on the children that he knows hold such a huge place in my heart. 

Love

Our little Grenadian Family

Kyla and Mr. Josh

Little Sassy

Helping BJ with his worksheets

Miguel

Dede passed out mid-class

This child is so wild!

Jade's smile lights up the camera

Oh Miss Kat!

Little Duck

It poured rain yesterday, like buckets.  Probably the most rain in a single two hours that we've had this term. And it started right when we got to Limes.  Maybe it was God's way of telling me that he knows.  He knows how sad my heart is and He was crying for me too.

The Coutain Family got me some going away gifts.

A picture of Dede, Briana, and Jivona.

A keychain, so that every time I look at my keys, I will remember them.

Momma Jill and I

My friend Amy sent something to me that touched my heart and helps make it slightly easier to leave.  She said "Remember that they are God's kids and that He will continue to love them and care for them after I am gone."

It's not goodbye.  I know I will be back someday.  So for now it's see ya later Grenada.