Well, I'm all settled in to Detroit Mercy and having a ball. As part of my orientation, I went on a service learning trip which was basically a morning full of community service. This is how I met Branson, my first person to be a part of my project.
Meet Branson:
Branson is 3 (almost 4) years old. He is a preschooler at Gesu Catholic Elementary School. The school is right across the street from the University. It is private so there is tuition costs for the students. The school at one time had over 1,000 students but now is down to just under 200. Let me you remind me I'm in metro Detroit, so many of the kids at Gesu come from unstable families.
Okay, back to Branson.
Branson and I became friends when he asked me to go on the see-saw (how do you spell that?) with him. He told me he doesn't like to bounce high but that he did want to play on it. He began telling me right away about his bike. Branson's bike is black and yellow and has training wheels. He told me that he's so close to not having training wheels because he's a big boy. I made sure to ask if he has a helmet and he said "yes! its red and white!"
Branson's daddy takes care of him all the time but he occasionally rides his bike to grandma's house. Grandma has clothes there. (I don't know what that's supposed to mean) Branson didn't say anything about his mom so I don't know if she's in the picture or not.
Part of going to Gesu involves wearing a uniform. Let me tell you, the uniform makes the kids 100x cuter. The uniform is navy pants with a white collar shirt. Well, Branson dressed for the weather today and had a blue button up cardigan on. I know you're probably thinking...why do I care? Cute little Branson says, Hey ...Jamie...like my whale?? He pointed to the embroidered whale on his sweater and the biggest grin came across his face. Of course I jumped with excitement about the whale on his cardigan.
Oh, Branson has super powers! He was doing flips on a monkey bar thing and I was amazed at how good he was at it! He then told me, well Jamie, I can do it because I have super powers. I said oh what kind? He says, I can fly and grow!
Miss Jones was one of the preschool teachers that all of the kids adored. She was a very nice lady and I'm sure she'd be my favorite too. Branson's friend, Cartel, needed help with his belt. Remember we're doing with 3 year olds.... Miss Jones was fixing Cartel's belt and something came up about Miss Jones not knowing Branson's daddy and grandma. Miss Jones told Branson she knew both of them and used their first names to prove it. She told him she knows everybody. Branson then said, "Miss Jones, do you know Jesus?" She said, "of course I do! He's in Heaven" Branson said, "No, he's in the sky" Miss Jones told Branson, "No, He's in Heaven." Branson then put his hand over his heart and said..."Miss Jones, he's right here"
My heart melted.
There you have it. Week 1 of 36.
