scenes from last night

young girl wonders aloud where my husband is, as they were quite taken with each other when they met last time... about 6 months ago. she tells me she is studying explorers at school and she was reminded of my husband when she started to learn about Francisco Coronado. i tell her he still has the glow-in-the-dark gift that she made for him last time and she blushes with pleasure.

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young boy makes all his Halloween-themed finger puppets Elvis. Elvis Frankenstein, Elvis Witch, Elvis Devil, Elvis Ghost, Elvis Pumpkinhead... then he had them sing "return to sender" ... awesome.

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first time volunteer starts doing sketches of witches and werewolves on sheets of construction paper.... kids clamor for them, and proceed to colour them with markers, dab them with glitter glue, bejewel them with sparkly stickers and google eyes... and he goes home with an armful of their "collaborative art."

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young boy who was extremely difficult to manage at last visit is happy to see me this time around, makes sure we sit together, and tells me jokes all evening, poking me with marker and glue stained fingers to get my attention should it stray from him and him alone...

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young sisters in pretty dresses with ribbons in their hair turn their finger puppets into creatures from the house of gore with gobs of red glitter glue... and then put on a puppet show of massacre. complete with tissue paper curtains in front of the stage, music before the opening of the performance, and elaborate dying and revival scenes. Pumpkinhead was particularly resilient, and Frankenstein was particularly sensitive and prone to sobbing.

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there's nothing quite like spending time with children at the Life With Cancer Family Center