July 19
Today was incredibly busy and full of reunions. We began our morning at the church I attended while in Rwanda. I knew this would be a really overwhelming experience for Eden so I tried to set the bar at a reasonably low place, knowing that many mamas would try to take Eden from me and that every bit of her personal space would be invaded. Soon after we arrived she fell off one of the pews onto the cement floor and hit her head. It was the perfect excuse for me to keep her nearby and she slept on me for the whole music set. I got to reconnect with many dear people, including this amazing midwife whose work I have admired since I met her family 7 years ago.
During the sermon we skipped out and went to Bourbon, the coffee shop we love. Olivier came with of course, since Eden would never excuse us leaving him behind. It was really nice to talk more with him and to enjoy Eden in a small setting. Of course she hardly noticed me because Olivier was there and she only has eyes for him. When we returned to church Eden was refreshed enough by our respite to greet people happily and tolerate non stop touching and poking form endless strangers. I really enjoyed seeing the faces that made up my weekly rhythms for those three years.
We returned home for lunch and naps ( a note on this: I have grown accustomed over the past two weeks to napping when she does. That will be a rude awakening). After naps the girls played till it was time to leave for the Munyampeta family reunion. And what a reunion it was. It took Eden a good half hour to warm up to the crew, but once she did it was all smiles and dancing and running around like she was one of the gang. We were 27 total, of the almost 40 members of the family. We had a whole goat roasted outside on a spit, along with several chickens, some potatoes, onions, and chipatti. The evening was full of laughter and tears and noise and a beautiful prayer to close out our time. I left with this type of full heart that comes from having the people I love all up in my personal space and being so tired that I wanted someone else to carry me instead of me carrying Eden.
As the evening was coming to a close, there was a lull in the conversation and someone commented that Eden was so smart and so wonderful. I, of course, replied that she gets it from Robert's side. Which was the perfect reply. What a round of applause that produced. I just wish Robert could have been there.
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