40. They took Miguel!!

Sunday 11/11/12

Today was extremely bittersweet. We had fun, but then part of my newly formed heart was suddenly ripped away.

I woke them up at 6:00 to tell them their surprise. We were going to a swimming pool in Rurre for the day. Juan jumped for joy! Miguel kept sleeping! Haha. He was quite excited when he realized what was going on, though.

We caught a taxi at 7:00, made it halfway, then got a flat tire. We helped change the tire and resumed our journey 40 minutes later. We ate breakfast at Narguila’s and then we arrived at the pool. Oops. It was closed until 11:00 a.m. So I took them to my favorite internet café to talk with their mama, Erin. After 45 minutes of waiting, Erin finally got online on her Skype account. I had time to say hello, was transferring the headset from my ears to Juan’s, when…the power went out all over town!! So close! Oh, well, we can talk to Erin later on.

Hope to see you next year, Miguel!

I took them to a café, and ordered each of us lemonade to wait for the pool to open. Then, things changed unexpectedly. I had barely set the lemonade in front of excited Miguel when Melissa came running in, grabbed Miguel and said, “Miguel’s dad is here to take him home! He has to go now! His dad leaves in 30 minutes, and we had to break into your room to get some of his stuff!”

Whoa! I was told that his dad might pick him up sometime this summer, but it was supposed to be much later and we speculated it wasn’t going to happen at all!



I had time to give him a hug goodbye, but he was too disappointed to do anything. He didn’t get to go swimming! Or drink his lemonade!! While he didn’t seem happy to be with his dad who lives in a native village close to Brazil, I thought it was for the best. His 8 year-old sister has a tongue problem and can’t talk to well, so she might get that fixed in the summer. Plus, I was relieved when Melissa told me the father said they were coming back. That may or may not happen, but I’ll trust God will do as he pleases.

   

So…only one remained!! We were both kind of sober, but that changed when we headed off to the pool. Juan loves this beautiful pool, and he was in the water the whole four hours we were there! It may be his favorite activity second only to shower races! He jumped off my shoulders then I showed him how to frog-swim. At 4:30, we ate at Narguila’s again, and then went to Skype Erin. We had success, but Juan is not much of a talker. Erin was sure happy to talk to him, but was quite shocked to find out Miguel had left. I sure was.



Having a blast at the pool



Pretty pirty isn´t it?!





The resident toucan saving me a recliner

 

Juan swimming like an otter





We came back content and happy, despite having one less family member. I concluded that day by reaffirming what I know well, “Make the most of each moment with each kid, because you never know how long it will last.”

**Keep adventurizing!...I know I will!**