A Welcome Home

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The light faded quickly and the dark grey clouds released the rain they had promised. It was a very tropical day of hot bright sun, torrential showers and a thunderstorm finale spectacular enough to keep everyone up and awake for hours.

I was back in Stung Treng, in the newly finished house so desperately in need of the proposed awning, for shelter against the rain that floods into the living room from the veranda, and to keep the house as cool as possible during the day. It was a welcoming place when we arrived last night, wet from the last two hours of traveling in rain from Phnom Penh.

Still under construction during my last two visits, I had been comfortable in an air conditioned guest house, if somewhat isolated from family life. It became difficult for me to endure the conditions they had to survive in as they continued to run the noodle stall by day and transform that same shack into a bat cave at night. Hammocks were hung and mats laid out under netting while one eye and an ear were kept alert against potential thieves.

For the first day, I was not expected to lift a finger for myself and draped in a borrowed sarong, I made sure to show at the stall for the food that Mai-ta or Mai-Mai would otherwise be sent to deliver to my room. My laundry would be wisked away for handwashing by Ya, unless I was fast enough to intercept her. The attention became a little too much and I often used the excuse of fatigue to hide in my room and write.

For all the bumps in the road to this point in our entwined lives, I'm glad for everthing we've done. With Sophat's decision to join his family once again, he has the guidance he so desperately wants, and the supervision he needs!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

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