A Grand-daughter's gift!

Today marks a day of mixed emotions as our little 2yr old 'grand-
daughter' and her parents move back to Zimbabwe to live.

In many ways they don't want to go, but a variety of situations
require them to.

We have been making the most of these last weeks and days with them
with special outings and meals together. We have had so many special
'grand-parent' times and have lots of special memories and photos! We
will miss them a lot and they will miss us too. We have had so much
fun as little Tarnisha grows in her vocabulary of Shona (her parents
language), English (her 'grand-parents' language!) and Setswana (the
local language) and endeavours to work out which people understand
which words!
 We have watched her discover about pulling her little
wagon, figure out how to use her tiny 'kids' garden rake as she helps
her dad in the garden, learn to 'clap hands' with her 'Grand-pa
(Sekuru) and do drawings with her 'pens' (crayons) with Grand-ma
(Gogo). We have been encouraged as she learns about talking to God and
puts her hands together waiting for someone to 'give thanks to God' so
she can eat.

But yesterday brought another smile to my face and whenever I look at
this photo, I'll have a special memory... that I want to share...

Little Tarnisha's parents were packing the last of their things into a
box in our carport and I went out to sit and chat with them while they
worked. So Tarnisha came to sit with Gogo (that kept her occupied and
out from under her parents feet). After a while she took me by the
finger and led me to sit with her in a different spot, which we did
for a bit. Then she led me back by the finger to the first spot
again. After a few minutes, she took my finger again and tugged at my
arm to come with her to another spot. She didn't have the English
words yet to say what she wanted properly, but her mum interpreted the
Shona words for me - she wanted Gogo to come play with her in the sand

in our driveway. Between her mum and I, we explained that Gogo can't keep moving and can't go and play in the sand with her but that she
could go and play in the sand. She seemed to understand and happily enough went to the sand. 

But I was in for a surprise! A minute or so
later, she came back to me carefully carrying two full hands of sand and got me to open my hands so she could 'deliver' her gift. Then off
she went to get more! When she thought she had enough she stood in front of my open hand with its little pile of sand and proceeded to
play with that sand! When it had all been bumped out or fallen through my fingers, she just went and got more sand and brought it! Her creative thinking and kind heart and thoughtfulness of bringing the

sand to Gogo since Gogo couldn't go to the sand, touched our hearts.
How precious!

Well, before long my white trousers were quite dirty -
it looked like I really had played in the sand with her!