The love that has filled up their lives has spilled over into mine. I was amazed at how they all bonded like they had been family all of their lives, even though they come from 12 different children's homes all over Cambodia. I was amazed at how loving and excepting they were of me. I don't know the language very well, I don't look the same or even come from the same kind of culture, but I found myself become family with each and every one of them. The older girls helped to teach me some Khmer and treated me like sisters; I found myself being frequently hugged by the younger girls and the boys lovingly gave me the nickname "Danasaur" when they figured out that Dana sounds a lot like the "dino" in "dinosaur." 
I was even given the honorary status of adopted Cambodian. There were no dividing lines, skin color, language barrier, culture differences. Everyone operated in love, we didn't notice the differences, we just focused on the fact that this was a Celebration of Hope. This hope is alive in the shining eyes of every kid as they dance flawlessly and it carries them as they travel state to state. You can see it in them when they get interviewed and they boldly announce what they dream of becoming: doctor, artist, translator, governor. They are full of hope and life and love and have taught me so much. I will miss them but I hold to my own hope that I will find myself back in their presence in Cambodia.A few lines from my favorite poem:
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)
Until I see them all again, I carry their heart, I carry it in my heart.
With Love,
Dana
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