"Don't worry about the future, the present is all thou hast, the future will soon be present, and the present will soon be past."

Once again, I don't know where to begin. We woke up at 5:30am, so we could pack the bus full of all the bags for the kids and the families. It took a while, and we ended up getting to the school after the kids, but we managed to pack every bag in decent time. When we got to the school, we moved all the bags to the physical therapy room, and all the food to the kitchen. Today I was supposed to go on home visits with Harry and Ansley, but considering that all the families would already be at the school, we stayed.

Our day started off with the best game of kick ball I have ever played. We played with all the students from the deaf classrooms (AJ and Ansley were the captains,) and played until we would have to go inside. At first I was playing pretty badly, but after a while, I managed to play at a more moderate level. While I was waiting in line to kick, Zulema ran up to me, tears streaming down her face. Apparently Astrid had pulled her hair. I wrapped Zulema in my arms and she stood there crying into my dress for about five minutes, but her tears soon dried. Eventually everyone was called in, and because I was not on the home visits or in an assigned classroom, I floated from classroom to classroom. I would walk by one of the deaf classrooms, and one of the students woud make a noise to get my attention. In Auxilladory's class, the girls were tying balloons together as decorations for the party. I helped stuff them all into four garbage bags, and then began to stick them to the walls in the cafeteria. We hung balloons, streamers, and signs, completely transforming the cafeteria. The food was almost done, and everyone was going from room to room, bringing out desks and chairs for people to sit on in the courtyard. I signed with some of the girls from the deaf classrooms as the food was prepared, and helped serve everybody was it was ready. Every person got at least one plate full of food, and a cup full of soda. Once everybody finished, we walked around, and offerend seconds and refills. As I walked by Jose Daniel, I noticed that he hadn't even touched his food. I told him to eat, but when I came back, his plate was still full. I sat down next to him and began feeding him the food myself. We made a system that if he didn't like the food I was trying to give him, he would just turn his head, and if he wanted something else, he would point to it. Soon most of his food was gone, and just in time for a giant horse pinata to be carried out. Students took turns swinging at it with a bat, but no one could break it open. But then Yohanna from the younger deaf classroom came, and with one swing the pinata fell on the ground.

All the kids ran around, their pockets full of candy, when we started handing out the bags. Parents thanked us, kids hugged us, and everybody was smiling.
Until we checked our watches.
It was 12:03 when I first started crying. I had initially thought that I might be able to keep my eyes dry, but when Diana came running towards me, tears streaming down her face... I couldn't help but begin to cry as well. Zulema found me and jumped into my arms. I danced with her and kept calling her, "Mi amor." I went over to Mariano's classroom, where I signed goodbye as they walked away, one by one. One of the older boys, Ezequial, pulled me into a long hug, which brought even more tears to my eyes. The bus came back (it had dropped off and picked up all the families that weren't officially enrolled at Escuela Especial) and I began crying again. Even Darwin, who never frowns, looked to be on the verge of tears as they carried him onto the bus. I gave everyone one last hug, until there was no one else. I went to the back of the bus and reached threw the window to hold Diana's hand. The doors slid shut, and the wheels started to move, but I kept my hand on the bus. Only seconds later I had to let go- and for the last time, I saw them roll down the dirt trail...

"Don't worry about the future, the present is all thou hast, the future will soon be the present, and the present will soon be past." - William R. Evans III & Andrew Frothingham