school | The Traveling Scarf

All throughout my life my Mom has always been such a gift giver. I’m sure there were some Christmases and birthdays I was given something expensive and extraordinary but its the silly little thoughtful gifts she gets me that I remember most. It was the time she saw me watching Anne of Green Gables on TV and then gave me an Anne of Green Gables journal for my 16th birthday because she thought it was one of my favorite movies or when she randomly finds Audrey Hepburn items that she knows I will love (The last was a coffee mug and she said “You would be so proud of me because I didn’t even look at the price I just knew you had to have it” or Betty Boop socks… Or how she traveled to NYC with me 3 years in a row in the freezing cold to stand in line for discount broadway tickets with the hope that one day we would finally get to see the Newsies… not because she loves the Newsies but because she knew it would make me the happiest girl in the world! We saw a lot of great shows in the meantime and made so many memories along the way that when we finally did get to go to the Newsies this past February it made it even more worthwhile!

All of my friends and family have such a thoughtful way to them and I am so blessed and thankful for these small little gifts that I will carry with me always. Yesterday, with the help of many of my readers I was able to give 54 children their equivalent “Newsies” in the form of school supplies. I am so overwhelmed with joy for all of the support and love you have shown to these children that you have never even met. These small gifts of a composition book, crayons, a pair of scissors and a glue stick (which none of them have ever seen before and I cannot promise that one or two of them may or may not have eaten theirs!) is probably one of the greatest gifts they have ever received. Many of these children are sad, sad because they watch their friends put on their school uniforms and walk to school while they are left behind in the slums but yesterday I did not see sad faces, I only saw pride. Pride that they had something to call their own! This is something I wish I could explain in words and pictures… and although I will try my best to do so, I wish each and everyone of you who contributed could be here to experience it for yourself!

UPDATED: Today (Wednesday) I went back to the classroom for a short while to see the kids and deliver our new blackboard! Really neat thing actually that I bought on Amazon (Blackboard contact paper! You just peel and stick!) Pretty neat huh?? It’s going to save so much space!