Leah has barely gotten going in Kindergarten and she only turned 5 a couple of days ago. My baby girl is just getting started in life, but she’s already found love.
Her first day of school she came home and told me all about a boy in her class who didn’t speak English and had plugs in his ears. I inquired if the “plugs” were skin colored (hearing aids?) and that seemed to be the case.
As the days went on I heard more and more stories about this little boy, who Leah referred to as “That ENGLISH Guy,” because she couldn’t remember his name (it’s Yaziel) or the name of the language he spoke (it’s Spanish).
Leah told me she frequently bounded over to Yaziel, threw her hands up in the air and exclaimed, “I LIKE you!” Another day, she informed me that Yaziel always had a little smile on his face because, “he is happy being by me and I am happy being by him.”
When the Kindergarten class went on a field trip to the nature center, they visited the “hugging sycamore,” where you have to hug someone. I asked who she had hugged and she replied, “One of the girls. I can’t remember her name. And Yaziel!”
Yesterday on the way home from school, Leah told me about a game they played where she got to be partners with Yaziel. She babbled on:
“I love Yaziel! The first day I saw him, I loved him! I loved his name and I loved who he was. He’s so handsome. I wish I was a Spanish person. I wish I spoke his language. I know some words he says, like ‘Hola’ and ‘Ocho.'”
And I know I should be freaked out or something, because she’s only 5 and she’s already crushing on boys. But I can’t.
Because I’m so undone by her big heart of love that sees people for who they are. Leah doesn’t look at language barriers or physical difficulties or differences of any kind. She sees a person and simply loves. She loves lavishly and freely.
I wish I could be more like her.
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Dear Christopher,