Growing Up

There are a few girls in my section that you MIGHT say have been major pains this year – always giving attitude, never doing what they’re supposed to do, bothering the other girls, not listening…you name it. Luvia is one of those girls. She’s never exactly been my favorite…probably far from it. I kept giving it the best try I could, and yet things never seemed to get better between us…always something that made me a little sad...but then came this weekend.

On Saturday the girls in my section and I made the trip to the Posada for Corinna’s despedida…and Luvia walked next to me for a while…and then grabbed my hand and held it tight the whole way there. Definitely a first. In fact – she’s the only girl at night that doesn’t receive a kiss goodnight from me – her choice. It was a very nice surprise to feel her little hand in mine. But it got better from there.

While walking along, Cindy, another girl in my section, found a chicken egg on the ground (presumably having fallen from the nearby chicken coop.) She picked it up and was SOOOOOOOOOO proud of herself and happy that she had found something so special. We continued walking along and passed by a tin roof home that had two little boys, roughly the girls’ ages, peering out of the open door. Cindy passed by without much thought, but as soon as we were out of earshot Luvia said to her, “Dude – give them the egg” to which Cindy responded, “But it’s MY egg – I found it,” and then Luvia said the most amazing thing I’ve heard her say all year:

“We HAVE food at NPH. We ALWAYS have food – you need to give them the egg – you don’t know if they have anything else to eat.”

Tears immediately started to well up in my eyes. I could see Cindy’s inner struggle as she tried to decide what to do…until Luvia finally said “Come on – we’ll do it together.” And hand in hand they walked over to the two boys and, without saying a word, handed them the egg. The boys’ faces lit up as they ran inside and shut the door.

It was honestly one of the most unbelievable moments I’ve had since being here at NPH all year and I’ve never been prouder of my little diablita, Luvia :).