I love children. I love their energy, and their perception of life and the way they walk and... I just love them!!
I guess there are two stories that really stand out for me when it comes to children getting excited. The first story is when I went to Cambodia.
I was there to do volunteer work. I mean, I was there for tourism purposes, also. But the most important (and my personal favourite) part of the trip was the volunteer work we did in the remote village a couple hours outside of the city.
On the first day, the children were quiet, watching us intently, from a distance. We soon learned a great ice-breaker is to bear gifts. Small things. Candy. We gave them candy. And then we started bringing stickers and bubbles and soccer balls. We showed them our photos on our digital cameras, and taught them English words, gave them high fives and danced with them. I can't decide whether it was me or them who were more excited!! We had become friends, and making new friends is always exciting.
That was pretty special. Knowing that so much happiness can come from something or someone that had been so foreign up until recent. It also goes to show that there really is no such thing as a language barrier. That you can reach out to people just fine, without words to guide you.
The other story happened a little closer to home. My little cousin Eric, who is now seven, but at the time was five, was hanging out with his family at our grandparents house. My family was there, too. And my grandparents have in one room, a framed photograph of every one of their children and their spouses, together, on their wedding day. This includes a photo of my grandparents on their wedding day. This particular day, after lunch Eric decided he wanted to name all of his aunts and uncles, which he did a very good job doing. But when he came to my grandparents picture, he stopped for a moment, and said, "I don't know who that is."
"Eric, that's Nani and Nana."
His facial expression changed so quickly and suddenly, and he started jumping up and down and stammering; kind of like the way I do when I get excited over something really awesome within a fandom I belong to.
"I can't believe that's really them!! They look so different! So... Wow!!!"
Seeing such excitement in somebody else stirred up all my emotions, too. It was so cool to see. One of the best moments I've shared with another person.
And that is my story.
