Half A World Away

Here I am half way around the world with half a day difference in clock time between VN and my home in NY.  I always manage to forget just how long the trip takes. And I can never quite wrap my head around the fact that the US government sent more than 2 million men and women, plus all the helicopters, tanks, weaponry and supplies this distance to sustain 10 years of what is known here as the American War.

So I've settled into my little $10 a day room, with a view of the rooftops of Saigon, rested and ready to see my friends at Peace Village tomorrow. I find myself wondering if some of the children who were there last year might be gone now. The severity of their medical conditions precludes the option of adoption for most. So I realize that those who are missing will have most likely passed from this physical realm at some point in time during the 330 days while I was...half a world away.

Ironing

Two days until I leave home for a month. Waves of uneasiness come and go, making their way throughout my body. But in my heart I know I'm ready.

Yesterday I bought some very cute little clothes for the children in Peace Village. It was fun picking them out, imagining who might wear what. I brought them home and washed them, laughing to myself as I tried to remember how many years have passed since the inside of my washing machine had seen clothes that size.

And then I ironed them, knowing full well that taking the time to iron wasn't practical. There were so many other things I needed to be doing to prepare, and the wrinkles would surely return and multiply during the 9,000 mile journey. But I ironed them anyway, with as much care as I would when ironing for my own children. That's when my innermost knowing showed up reminding me that we are one human family, and that these are my children.

As the iron glided, and the wrinkles vanished, I fantasized about being able to remove the children's disfigurements and deformities with the same ease. And I found myself wondering about the little arms and legs that would soon be filling the fabric.

Thread crossing thread. Interwoven to create one piece. One peace.