A sparkle to light up the night!

I am back in Uganda.  I arrived yesterday.  I missed Anna so much while I was gone.  I was not sure how she felt about my absence.

When I drove up, several kids came running up, hugging me and shouting my name.  I was happy to see them but was scanning the group for Anna.  One of the older resident girls brought her around the corner to me.  

The following is the journal entry I wrote about the rest of the evening:

She was low key.  She went straight to me but didn't laugh, smile or cheer.  I held her and talked to her. She stared at me, almost in disbelief. Was she wondering if this was real?

Then, I did what I do every night, I whispered in her ear, slowly, deliberately, one word at a time:  "I" "Love" "Anna".  She leaned in for a kiss then and that was the first smile, big and long but silent.  She reached up to touch my hair, almost as if to reassure herself I was really holding her.  A sparkle came into her eyes, faint, but it was there.

Low key was the nature for a long while.  2, 3 hours. Then, "meeeooow" and "hamachi" as she climbed in and out of my lap.  So out of character, this child who chatters and sings, was so quiet.  

We ate dinner.  She sat so big and tall feeding herself beans and rice.  Then, she got in my lap and fed me.  There was a sparkle in her eye and a smile on lips, but still silent.  

Bath time.  I put her in and stepped away.  She got out and followed, naked and dripping wet, pleading silently, "Don't leave me."

In her bed, "I" "Love" "Anna" over and over again. She leaned in each time her name was said, smiling, chuckling under her breath as I kissed her head.  

"Goodbye Anna, see you tomorrow"  Then, the sparkle that lit up the night.  She finally knew it was real!