This sweet girl stood on the school yard fence and watched us play soccer and basketball with the children who lingered after school. I wished that I could have communicated with her to come in and play with us.
Know what, the soccer ball (or is it football) we used was a basketball and the field was dirt...dirt and dust flew as they raced around.
But the fact that we couldn't communicate didn't get in the way when we played. Language in play didn't matter. That was one of my favorite parts.
Have you ever been like the girl here...watching on the sidelines? Hey, get in the game...come and play. I'll pick you for my team.
Funny thing about picking for teams when we switched to basketball, we decided to pick teams because boys vs girls was thoroughly unfair-we tried this first. Two of the athletic kids were picked as captains. I was picked as one of the first players rather than one of the last. This was a big change for me cause I am usually bottom of the barrel and here I was the oldest of the group. That made me feel good to not be last for a change. Later I thanked the kid for that.
I absolutely love the smiles you're catching in these pictures. They just glow, and make me feel happy in the process. (And it's amazing, the power of those words "I'll pick you for my team." To know you're wanted is life-affirming.)
she looks like a team player