Heart on the Runway

     Sometimes folks enter your life like a whisper. Their presence is sweetly felt, small but powerful. Some cross your life with a steady, stable pull of your heart strings. And still others penetrate your life like a zig-zagging wind. Their presence is amazingly invigorating, bigger than life, overwhelming.  David Ríos?  All of the above.

        We met him last year during a Friday Family Fun Night stroll up to the college. Twelve months, two parakeets, dos idiomas, six college classes, a million risas, pliguerismos, a few lágrimas, and 2.5 tons of fried chicken later, we call him our own.

        This Thursday he returns to his home in Panama for the summer. There are no words to describe how happy I feel for his upcoming reunion with his family. His parents have walked a long road of unbridled, unselfish love--they have taught me lessons I now have a chance to apply.

        As to crying at the airport? I won't. Though my heart's on the runway, I'll have loftier thoughts in mind. It will be time for that new pair of shoes.

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[The righteous] are always generous and lend freely;
their children will be a blessing.
Psalm 37:26 NIV