One Treasure At A Time: Bee, The Little Mama

It's a game much like rock, paper, scissors. At least that's how it ends.

It's after supper and getting dark one night at Hot Springs. The meal is being cleared away and there is that general after supper lingering at the table for the adults. Yupa is enjoying a rare moment to sit, and she is doing her best to engage me in "conversation". The children are busy, being primarily responsible for clean up, except not all of them at once. That's why Bee is free to play with Bao.

She does this a lot. In fact, if I had to pick Bao's favourite among all the other little mama's she could be with, it would be Bee, hands down. They are often together. Like now, in the gathering dusk, sitting on the low wall that separates the dining area from the upward climbing jungle behind us.

The game is a song, really. There are actions and repeating sounds and at one point the players join hands and move their arms back and forth in a seesawing motion. And it all ends with a flourish, each player choosing a hand position that somehow determines who wins.

Every time, Bao laughs loud, whether she wins or loses. And then, in the predictable and apparently universal way of two year olds she says, "Eek tee!" Again! And over and over, with patience beyond most adults, Bee does it again.

This is the gentleness of Bee. She's kind and easy going, patient in other ways besides a willingness to repeat a childish game. She smiles easily, and seems calm in the midst of the happy chaos of living in a home with 15 children. She's affectionate and nurturing and talks in quiet tones. The day we broke out the playdoh, Bee stayed with Bao to help make sure she had fun. It's easy to see why Bao favours her.




Bee, like a few other of the girls, has her hair long and straight. The night she and Saiy stayed with me in the Mission Centre, they both took turns brushing each other's hair, and then played "model" with my hat (actually Debbie's hat), walking down an imaginary runway to show how grown up they were.




Even now, two months later, remembering her smile, her gentle hand slipping into mine as we would walk down the driveway....makes me smile too, and makes me miss her. A lot. When I was there, Bee drew me a picture of a Thai country scene and I put in on my fridge. In English she's written "Bee loves Ruth".

I spent some time this evening sorting through my pictures again. I always think I'm going to do this as a task, you know, as if it was something to do that I needed to get done. Sort the pictures, give them names so I can find them easier. All that.

But it always does a number on me. Truth is, I miss them so much. Two months down, four to go. I'm going back in May.

Meanwhile, we've been able to send money for mattresses! As soon as we get some pictures, I'll post those too.