THE GIVING TREE, Uganda style

Three weeks ago today my family returned from what will go on record as our summer-of-a-lifetime. Thanks to a sabbatical grant awarded to my husband by Eli Lilly, we traveled for one week each to Paris and Athens/Santorini, then settled in for 2-1/2 weeks in the bush of Uganda. The location was Restoration Gateway, an orphanage and medical center where friends of ours serve as doctors and nurse. The visit there was transformational as we lived and ate among the kids and house mamas and participated in various ways at the school. My boys played endless games of football (soccer); my husband took a few young men and boys under his wing and listened to their dreams; and my daughter did impromptu art sessions. As for me, I spent lots of time on the grass and under trees playing guitar and singing with the kids and doing story times. My personal highlight? Beginning to read THE GIVING TREE to them, only to end with their bright, wise voices reading it to me.  Wow.