Our team:
Jane, Patty, Myrna, me, and Pearl. (Vivian and John are missing from this picture.) We had another team-mate, Kerri who got pink eye and had to leave us and Myrna was only able to stay until yesterday.
We had about 50 kids today which is what we had last Friday when I first started. Looks for sure like our numbers are not going down! So, since we are still seeing a large number of kids, we have a new team-mate being rushed in to help.
When we walked in this morning I overheard a family saying that they had just found out about this disaster center from a neighbor and they had no idea there was a place to come for help. We heard from a cop the other day that the publicity has been insufficient and there are many people who are just finding out about the disaster center this week. It’s just amazing how many people still need so much help.
There were so many great stories from today. The kids are still loving the cardboard boxes and reenacting the tornado and rebuilding.
Here’s a roof a kid put on his house:
At one point today, I went over to a brother and sister (sister is 6 and brother is 2). The sister and I had been doing puzzles for a while (re-building and putting pieces back together) and then they were eating a snack. The boy looked at me and randomly said, “broken”. I said,”what?” And he repeated it: “broken”. I asked him, “what’s broken?” Thinking maybe the cracker in his hand was broken, but he didn’t respond. His sister waited a minute and then said that her brother was talking about their house because “our house broke in the tornado”. She went on to tell me more details and said she wasn’t at home when it happened because she was at Plaza Towers school (the one destroyed) hiding in the bathroom. We talked for a little while about it and then spent more time playing. There were quite a few kids today that seemed to be really needing this play opportunity today. Many of them were very serious during their play. It was a day proving the definition of play:: the work of children.
But before I go, you need to know that today is Pearl’s 68th birthday! I suggested we go swinging to celebrate before we left this morning. Patty and Pearl introduced me to swinging songs! Who knew!! And Pearl said, “that was just marvelous!” when we left.
I completely admire you for being there for those kids and their families. Patty is my aunt (my mom's baby sister) and she is amazing…she has the biggest heart and most beautiful smile. Thanks for doing what you do, it's truly a gift from the heart.