my story part 2

So our group from Real Life had been split into three teams. Two of the teams including mine had been assigned to build houses in the same neighborhood we had built in the previous year. The third team was a bit father away; on top of a mountain that overlooked the village. I had a small hope that I would run into our family that we built a house for last year; Lydia and her daughter Kenya, but I was even more excited about the possibility of running into a little neighborhood boy Katelyn and I had befriended: Antonio. We called Antionio, Poco Diablo (little devil) because he was extremely mischevious and not entirely nice to the other neighborhood kids, but for whatever reason he seemed to love me and Katelyn and over the course of the week last year we had developed quite an attachment to this little boy. Antonio refused to say goodbye to us when it was time to leave and ran into his house when we were loading up to get into our vans. I will never forget our van pulling away and looking back to see Antionio come out if his house waving goodbye with tears running down his face. Definitely an emotional moment.

I have thought about Antonio a lot over the past year and knew I would be really disappointed if I worked in his neighborhood again, but didn't get a chance to see him. I tried to get the thought out of my head. I had no idea where in that neighborhood we would be building and I knew there were no guarantees that I would see anyone from last year. So imagine my shcok when we pulled up to our new job site and I realized we were one block away from last year's house! If I stood up tall enough, I could see the top of Lydia's house.

So I had been working on this year's house for about an hour when I turned around and saw Antonio....coming my way..All bets were off when it came to pushing my emotions down. I ran over to him and hugged him like he was one of my own babies.....Through my broken Spanish I managed to ask him if he remembered me from last year and he told me he did and pointed over to Lydia and Kenya's house; showing me that he had remembered I helped build that house. He hugged me again and this time he wouldn't let go. We just sat there staring at each other and smiling for a long time...and then I remembered Katelyn. She had to see Antonio. I asked Antonio if he remembered Katelyn from last year and he nodded as soon as I said her name. I pointed up to the mountain and told him she was building a house up there and I told him we would go see her this week. He nodded so I assumed he understood what I said. In that moment I was completely filled up. I was so happy to see Antonio!!! I asked about Kenya and Lydia and he grabbed my hand and dragged me away from the job site. He was taking me to them. We walked down the street toward last year's job site and across the road I saw Lydia, Kenya's mother. I walked quickly toward her and before I even had a chance to ask her if she remembered me she started crying. She grabbed me and hugged me. I had a special bond with Lydia last year and I was so happy to see that our friendship had survivied the year without communicating. Kenya as there too. It was a happy reunion and I felt in that moment that even though I was not on the team I wanted to be on that I was so blessed to have this opportunity to see these people so precious to my heart one more time. It was a definite gift and I was loving it! This all sounds so melodramatic, I know, but it was truly one of the most special moments in my life...These people in Esenada had such a lasting impression on my life and I was so happy to see that I had made enough of a difference in their lives to remember me...it was pretty powerful...

I've got a bit more so one more installment should finish this up...until then...

D.