Laowai

Bea has this sweet little friend and she is a gem of a friend. Her name is Mabel.

Claire has friends too and they are special girls, but Mabel is different because Mabel has helped Bea through some incredibly difficult times. When Bea was paralyzed with fear Mabel was the one who could make her smile. When the world seemed too scary Mabel showed her how to brush it all off and get on with having fun. I know that they have shared the most intimate whispers and I know that Bea attributes any braveness she has had to Mabel’s showing her the way.

And it’s not just Mabel – it’s her whole family. They somehow embraced Bea even when I was scared and confided how much she struggled. They understood in the most nonchalant way. When things seemed so dark and complicated to me – they focused on the right stuff. They got through to Bea – mostly by making her laugh and smile. With their help we have come out on the other side of a very scary storm. And so it feels so hard to leave Mabel and her mom behind. Just when I’ve come to love having a mom that I can trust I am going somewhere far away. Soon I won’t have a friend a couple blocks over that loves and understands my daughter.

Brian and I sometimes get annoyed (as parents do) and we roll our eyes at Bea and then we laugh and speculate that Mabel’s parents like her more than we do. Ha.

We are leaving right when these girls are ready to start changing into teenagers and we can’t know how their sweet friendship will fare. All we can do is look back and feel grateful for such a precious gift that the friendship has been… so far.