I was hooked from the moment I first saw this precious little face peak out from under that hat oversized, faded blue hat. His name was Junior and he was one of the most adorable little toddlers I had ever seen. I met Junior my fourth year coming to the orphanage and was taken with his contagious laugh and continual smile– this boy was just bubbling with love. But he was missing one thing. At an all boy’s orphanage there are no mothers and only a handful of house mothers to love and pour affection on all sixty boys at the orphanage among all their other duties of cleaning, cooking, laundry and caring for the little ones. It was a strenuous job, to say the least. Think about the average American mother and her toddler. She is always coddling him, changing him , cooing to him, snuggling and napping with him. That is how that inseparable bond of mother and child is formed.
But Junior was missing this key aspect. He didn’t have a mother present to hug and kiss and tell him that he was loved. So when we came to visit Junior clung to us. The first day, I picked him up, gave him some attention by playing peek-a-boo and from then on, he barely left my sight while I was at the orphanage. He squirmed and whined when I tried to put him down, and was always nearby playing or trying to help while we were working. I fell in love with that little toddler that week and gained a new appreciation for my mother.
Before that week, I never really understood how crucial it was for a young child to have a mother figure in his or her life at a young age. The physical affection from a mother forms such an amazing bond between a child and mother and that is something sacred to be continually thankful for.