Three months have come and gone in what seemed like a blink of an eye. I knew this day would come when I would have to look at the beautiful faces I’ve come to love so deeply and say goodbye. But little did I know that every time I laughed, smiled and made unforgettable memories with them that it would make this day one of the hardest. The morning was slow and quite as we all knew what was going to happen right after lunch. As the minutes creeped on the time had finally come. We loaded the buses and waited for the some of the kids to come home from school. As I saw them walking down the dirt path and our eyes locked we both busted out into a full sprint. I was then taken over by five of my favorite kids as we almost all fell to the ground. We started to walk up to the guest house where everyone else was and from that moment on the tears didn’t stop. One goodbye turned into many as I went around and hugged all the kids but I knew I still had the hardest goodbye left. Since the start my favorite place to spend my time was in the kitchen. Zenette and Ledona were so much more to me then people that cooked for us at HOPE. They were the hugs I got first thing in the morning and the reason I laughed on my hardest days. The people who took care of me no matter what, whether I was sick or my face was pouring blood they were always there. They always had my back in making sure my outfits looked good and making sure I never lost in a water fight. Even if that meant flooding the kitchen and living room. These women changed my life in showing me what it’s like to love someone and grow to know someone so deeply even if you only know ten of the same words. Today was heartbreaking no doubt but it will always put a smile on my face when I think about it.
