Kasekende Cooper...how cute is that?

So many of you know that I went to Africa this summer. It was a great experience. While I was there I fell in love with a little African boy. Here is the back ground information on him. His name is Kasekende and he is about 4 years old (no one knows for sure). One day the director of the school was walking past the dumpsters and he found Kasekende inside. Kasekende was very sick and basically on death's front door, but the director took him in and brought him back to life.

Well Kasekende and I became best friends. He would wait for us to show up in the morning and he became my shadow while we were there. He would hold my hand and walk around the compound with us. He would work when we would work. He was so cute. He just wanted to be around us all the time. We would eat lunch together every day, and when he got tired he would crawl into my lap and fall asleep.

Because he was so little, he didn't speak much English (or so I thought). So I would talk to him while we walked around and never really expected a response. I was surprised one day to find him singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to himself. That became one of our favorite things to do together. He would often start mumbling in his native language and then throw in some English words. Finally, one of the teachers came up and said "do you know what he is saying". "No, I don't have any idea", was my response. "He keeps calling you his mom and when the other children try and get close to you he tells them to leave you alone. Because you are his". It about melted my heart.

I found that Kasekende was really becoming attached. It got to the point that when we would leave at night to return to our hotel room that he would bawl. He finally would calm down and the next morning he would be waiting for us to come back. As soon as he saw the van pull up he would run over to it. The crazy thought popped into my head that I should just adopt him. That way I never had to leave him. But lets be honest...what good would I be to him (hello...single parent).I love that kid so much. And I miss him like crazy. The only thing keeping me sane was the thought of seeing him again in December. I just found out from the boss man that he didn't think we would be able to go in December. Now I am missing him even more. So to my little son, just wanted to let you know I was thinking of you.