My heart and soul are full today...

My heart is full today. We had a group of kids swim out to the boat today while we were anchored at Grand Mal, Grenada. The same kids were here last time we were here. At that time, we didn't let them up, but we gave them our leftover Halloween candy, and they were ecstatic. Our friends on Excelsior had let them on, and they had a blast jumping off the front of the boat. Today, we let them come up, and honestly, it was what my heart and soul needed. It was maybe an hour of kids jumping off the boat, laughing and huge smiles. Jakaya did not even hesitate to get in the water with them, and he had a grin from ear to ear. They were kind to us, to each other, and had lots of questions about how the dog got here and what life is like in Canada. They wanted to catch a fish, so Stephen showed them how to use our reels. They were happy, polite and respectful, and such a joy to have on board. They were pure happiness. They filled my heart and soul. Sometimes we are battling with our teens when the internet is off. Sometimes they don’t know what to do with themselves! These kids just want to jump off a boat, nothing else. It reminds me a lot of when I used to live in Radium Hot Springs when my boys were younger, with no TV or internet, and I watched them play in the mud and make up games. There were weekends of camping, made-up play and climbing trees. I miss those days. I hope that if nothing else comes from this trip, it’s that these kids find joy again in the little things, that they aren’t trying to “fill time” until the internet gets turned back on, but instead, they are too busy to care. We aren’t there yet, but we are really close! I can see changes in the kids every day. I hope that in 7 more months we are. To top it off, the group of kids then swam over to a sailor beside us, and he drove them around in his dinghy and let them each have a turn driving it. They were beaming!! I got teary-eyed… I live for this stuff…my soul lives for stuff like this. I’m topped up. My heart is full. My soul is glowing….