A day of firsts!

Here I am in the market taking a break from the hectic pace of racing through a market and helping children buy clothes.  The party started for the kids an hour before that when they were able to have a hamburger and fries and a soda.  It was cute to watch this young lad below love dipping every french fry in his tasty ketchup.

I moved from table to table to see how the children were enjoying their food.  It did not take long for this silly monkey to realize that for many of these children it was the first time they had ever had a hamburger.  One boy ate the buns first and then sat and ate the meat.

The fun really kicked into gear at the restuarant when the ice cream cones started pumping out! I have not seen such wide eyes since Momma took my cousin Phil and myself for our first time to Bananarama! These children were so polite....it was crazy. We were ready to go and one little girl had not finished her cone and would not think of leaving it behind. You see her in the pic on Brianne's knee. The ice cream was everwhere...but the little girl was happy....and tired....as she was fading in and out of dreamland in between licks.

Now about the market...it was crazy!  You know....when I was a young "vine swinging, fur scratching, tale twitching" youngster, I thought about no one else but Fred.  I watched one boy today make sure he used his portion of the money to buy clothes for his brother and sister.  When it got to the end he wanted a pair of jeans and did not have enough for them and then quickly settled on a couple shirts instead.  This fun loving, prankster monkey, had to find a private place to contemplate such care, love and sacrifice!  I also had some real fun watching Scott (Son of the Freakshow) handle the vendors and his children.  It was chaos...he would just look at me with a crazy look and laugh.

All in all it was a good day!  A special thanks to "everyday philanthropists" that made this possible for these children....for some...first time in a truck....for some...first hamburger...for most if not all....first time picking out own clothes.  Dignity was given....hope was embraced....joy was found.