Today was a Good Friday indeed! I finally got back to my
normal activates—well mostly. I still needed to rest as much as possible. And
had to take a nap. But it was mostly back to normal so Ill take it.
The best part about being mostly back to normal meant that I
could go to playtime! Which was kind of sad. Usually Guna will see me coming to
the playground and run right into my arms. Once he is there Ill always pick him
up and turn around a few times. He smiles from ear to ear and giggles every
single time. It’s kind of our thing. Some people have handshakes or give high
five and we have a jumping into my arms and twirling around ritual. If he isn’t
on the playground when I first come out he will almost always sneak up behind
me and cover my eyes and/or jump on my back. I love our little greeting
rituals. So when I saw him on my way to playtime today---and not only did he
not run into my arms but instead watched me quizzically and kept hiding behind
another volunteer. It was like he was scared of me. Im pretty sure he thought I
was a ghost. Which totally broke a few pieces of my heart.
I went up to him and started talking to him---telling him
how I had been sick so that’s why I didn’t come to playtime for the last 7 days. I went on to explain that now I am better and I was telling him that I missed him and how “I’m so excited to see
you!!” He was still visibly nervous but gradually he started to relax some.
Eventually he grabbed my hand and started insisting that we go talk to Miss. Velumal (one of the housemothers). He led me into her hostel but she wasn’t
there. Then he quick ran ahead of me at went around the corner, and before I
knew it he ran back to me and was motioning with his hands for me to, “Come
Ashley! I have found her!” Once we were all together Guna started talking to
Velumal in Tamil. She translated to me that Guna had thought that I had gone
home to America. She said he has been very sad and talking about how he misses
me but that “he has also been praying for you everyday”. I felt horrible and
made sure she explained back to him that I was sick and in bed for a week and
that is why no one has seen me. Her reply: “Yes! Yes! Now he knows and is very
happy! He wanted to show me that you are still here!” Guna can speak fairly
good English so I was wondering why he wanted Velumal to translate between us
but oh well, because 1) it was incredibly cute and 2) it was almost like he
needed to confirm with someone else that I was still here. After meeting with
Velumal and deciding that I wasn’t a ghost after all, he was back to the same
old Guna and quickly asked me to play red light green light with him.
I know I post a zillion pics of him but I can't help it. Just look at that face! Seeing it makes me so happy!
I know I post a zillion pics of him but I can't help it. Just look at that face! Seeing it makes me so happy!
