MOTHER'S DAY UPDATE!

Congratulations and best wishes to all the moms out there, today. Much love to you. Okay, now I know I've really been listening to too much Guyanese morning show radio.

The mum I love the most can be seen here. She is the little teapot in my jungle. She is my big bamboo; my graceful flowering vine; my accordion-toting butterfly. I love her very much and miss her even more.

It is her day, and it is also my sister's day, as she graduated from her business master's program yesterday. YAY for Gen! She's got way more credentials than her big sis, now! Oh, rats. Seriously, though, she did so well in the program and she's got great sense - I'm so excited to see where my city-slicker-sister goes next! You can see her in the other pic, pondering some master's-thesis-worthy schemata, no doubt.

Things have been EXTREMELY busy since Easter, when I last posted. I've been involved in some new extracurricular activities (singing, cooking more and visiting newborn babies!) and the trade-off is frequently my internet time. Of course, it didn't help that the server for the entire country was disrupted for about a week the other day. Imagine that.

I am busy, but energized. I am really excited to be participating in a course offered by the hospital in partnership with a Peace Corps volunteer. The course is designed to teach massage therapy techniques and considerations for clients with cancer or HIV/AIDS. I'm fascinated by the human body, and have seen the affects of too little caring touch in my clients every day, so this is really a wonderful opportunity for me, and I imagine it will be a wonderful opportunity for some of our clients as well, should I get the chance to work with any of them. The class is done in a very professional way, and so far we're only as far as understanding how cancer and HIV affect the body and are affected by its various systems. Next will come understanding of massage techniques, then the connection between the two. And finally, we'll have the opportunity to practice on each other. We'll see how it unfolds! It may be too early to tell, but I'm pretty sure that this is more than an intriguing course ... more like the introduction to my life after MVC. But more on that around August ...

My father and littlest sister are coming for a quick visit soon, so please keep their safe travels in your prayers. There's also our international transition retreat coming up at the end of May. Please say a little prayer for Meg and I as we go over the river to pray and for Gavin's swift recovery (he's at home in Ireland now, after suffering with some post-concussion headaches for the past few months). We're hoping he gets right as rain and back to Guyana as soon as he's able. He is greatly missed.

Again, a happy Mother's Day to one and all - but especially those patient, loving, wonderful mothers!