| | After working for the Santa Clara Parks and Recreation Department for a
total of two days, I have already achieved the love of a 5-year-old
Indian girl named Sarah Babar.
Today and yesterday, I have eaten lunch with Sarah twice, played with
her in the sand at the playground, held her hand while she is in line
walking places, and carried her while she was on the verge of crying.
Yesterday, at lunch time, we went to the playground. I was sitting
around joking with the other leaders, and Sarah came running up to me
telling me she had a surprise. I went to the area she had been working
on for the past few minutes, and saw a big circle in the sand, with
twigs and sticks standing up. She then began singing "Happy Birthday,"
saying she had just built me a cake out of the sand. This morning, the
first thing she did when she saw me was give me a big hug, then tell me
she had a gift for me. She ran to her backpack, and soon came racing
back with a stick of gum. Yes, she had brought a stick of gum... all
for me. After an intense game of a variation of dodgeball, the majority
camp was taking a quick break by sitting on a small brick wall, while
others refreshed themselves at the water fountain. She then sat next to
me under my arm, and told me that she loved me.
I really wonder what she thought after she had told me that, because my
reaction was a bit of freaked out, astonished, caring, and basically in
awe (I'm pretty sure that my face was teeming with expression as well).
The only thing I could really think of doing other than replying with a
forced and untrue "I love you," was pick her up and throw her in the
air. The whole day, I thought about what she said and how my experience
working at the summer camp has already changed my life, and provided a
memory forever.
At lunch, I took my already obligatory seat next to Sarah, where she
looked inside my lunch bag. After telling me I eat a whole bunch of
food, she told me that for tomorrow, I shouldn't bring as much food. In
response to my puzzled "Why?" she came back with a quick "Because I
want to be able to share my food with you." At this point, my jaw
probably dropped and I was ready to hit the floor, as I didn't know how
the hell to handle this situation. Luckily, another leader came by with
another camper and we started talking.
I wrote this with a lot more emotion than I thought I originally would,
but hey, I happen to think that the little girl is amazing. It is
pretty funny in retrospect, and take this as light as you can. Make fun
of Sarah, however, and you can be pretty sure that you won't reproduce.
Ever.
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| | Posted 6/21/2005 10:54 PM - 22 Views - 4 eProps - 3 comments
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