they want to be loved

there are many children here at casa hogar and the littlest ones are the easiest to love. they just are. some of the 10-12 year olds that are more energetic and have fun and loud personalities are also easy to love because you see them all the time. there are some kids that dont get recognized though. most of those kids are the older crowd of boys, ages 12 and up. for whatever reason i just connected with some of those boys last summer. jorge calixto (13), jorge(14), jonathan(14), roberto(14), lalo(13), and omar(15)- they are great and unique and i love hanging out with them. a lot of times they will just come and sit by me and we don´t have to say anything... we can just sit there. we can have a conversatoin or not... they will just sit there. they need attentiona and recognition. yesterday lalo came out and showed me his sketch book... he is amazing! he smiled as i looked through it and asked questions and things like that. he wanted to be recognized. later my jorge (calixto) asked me to help him with his homework... of all things... math. (not my strong subject to say the least). but i helped him and then he explained to me things about his grade point average and how he needs certain grades for this and that. the kid is so smart and i told him so. he wanted recognition. that same day roberto gave me a paper to look at. i was confused but opened it and it had a 10 written on at the top! as i complemented him he just smiled. he wanted to show me his grades and be recognized. i love these kids and they need people to love on them and praise them for their accomplishments. as hard as it is to be here sometimes those are the moments i love... the ones that make the kids feel special, unique, and appreciated.