Today I discovered Marilyn in a new way. Marilyn is a girl of about 10, who has some kind of brain disorder. She is mostly sweet and even funny, but can also be very violent and abrasive. She is not one for affection yet seems to be very curious about others. My experiences in the past have included wild temper tantrums, where she screams for hours on end and throws large objects including CHAIRS at the staff. Yet, there are times I find her so intriguing! I found out she loves makeup. She found an old compact filled with hot pink eye shadow and she went around the orphanage "decorating" the eyelids of every girl she could get her hand on...as well as the eyes of a few boys, much to their dismay!
Anyway, today I had about an hour with her alone. The other children were napping as my Dad and I sat in the office chatting with some of the ladies. In comes Marilyn like a wrecking ball...throwing open the screen door and making her presents known. She stood there for a second, and pondered what to do. That's when she saw me. Her smile broadened and she ran to sit next to me. At first we just starred at each other. I know she doesn't like affection so I didn't try to touch her or welcome her like I would the other children. But then she reached across and held my hand! It was awkward and sweet and I just looked at her. Then she smiled at me and pulled out a deck of cards. The game was Uno! We played for about an hour, using HER rules, which I never did come to fully understand. She won each time of course, but laughed and laughed constantly along the way! I loved every minute of it.
When we were done playing cards, I gave her a special gift from the bag of gifts I had brought for the kids (which were given to me to give to them from some wonderful people....Jacq and Brian Howe! You guys rock! Joseph Wallace! You are so thoughtful! And Karen Pinski! I love you guys!) We're distributing the gifts tomorrow, but her special gift today was a set of markers that Jacq gave! Needless to say she was ecstatic! She ran out of the office, the exact way she had come in, with such force I started to worry about the life of the screen door. Then she ran to wake the others up to show them! This evening they spent hours drawing and coloring! It warmed my heart!

Marilyn....with the Nicaraguan accent sounds like Marry Leen. I dedicate this post to ya girly! Thanks for showing me your beauty and letting me get closer to you! It was a fun day!