We Changed The World

The daycare is closed.

A lot of the "stuff" of it is gone. Some sold, some given away, some used up in careless abandon knowing we wouldn't "need" it for another activity next year.

There were some tears, but it wasn't as bad as it might have been. The kids and parents have had time to adjust to the idea if not the reality. The excitement of Christmas and family gatherings has their attention.

The kids and I finished the cakes begun yesterday for the holiday meal at St. Anne's. I'll miss our annual Thanksgiving pie baking and Christmas cake making for the soup kitchen. The kids so embraced the idea of preparing food for families who might otherwise have no celebration. Watching them mix and bake and clean up with such dedication fed my soul as surely as the cakes fed families.

We had a party and gift exchange. The kids all brought gifts for one another and had great fun in giving to their friends. The parents gave me generous and heartfelt gifts.

All the families worked together on a quilt with pictures and funny references to our time together. Haylee's mom organized the effort behind the gift. It is incredible. I know I will look at it for years to come and know joy.

I want to be replaceable. I want them to all be with providers who love them and enjoy them as much as we do. Providers who care about who they are now and who they will become.

I don't want to be replaced. I want to stay in their hearts, their memories as surely as they will stay in mine. I want them to remember these years, these moments, and know we changed the world together for a short time.