Have you heard of Auburn University's Project Uplift? It is much like Big Brothers Big Sisters of America but it is a local agency serving Lee County, AL. When I was a sophomore, I was paired with a little girl, who was 6 at the time and spent time with her playing, exploring, doing school work, etc. during the week when I had free time. Her little brother was 4 then and was too young for the program, but as soon as he turned 5, he became "mine" too! I kept in touch with them after graduating and even brought them to stay with us in Birmingham in 2007 when I was pregnant with Sipsey. They had also come home with me to Dothan twice while I was still in school. When we lived in Birmingham, I thought we were just too busy to visit them in Auburn or to bring them back to B'ham. Then we moved to Arkansas, and I realized how silly that was. It had been weighing heavy on my heart to visit them, so that's exactly what I did. In March, I decided to make a trip to Dothan and it was my priority to visit them on a Saturday while I was "in the neighborhood" (2.5 hours away!). "A" is 15 now and "J" is 13!!! We had wonderful day in Auburn and I will always make visiting them a priority . If you attend Auburn or know someone who does, I encourage you to learn more about Project Uplift and become a volunteer!
We picked them up in the morning and took a little tour of the city. First stop was the house where I lived junior year where the kids spent a lot of time with me.
Next stop was the trailer where Ben and I lived as newlyweds for 9 months before moving to Birmingham. Our trailer has since been removed and this brand spankin' new beauty replaced it.
After a delicious lunch at Olive Garden (A's choice), we had a little photo shoot in front of Samford Hall.
The poisoned Toomer's trees that will not be there when Sipsey attends AU!
We played for awhile at Hickory Dickory Park where I used to take A and J to play when they were little. Now they were playing with my little one!
So sweet!
We left the park when the bottom dropped out of the sky and drove around the city a little more reminiscing. This beautiful rainbow appeared on the way to an early dinner.
We ended the day with dinner at Mikata (J's choice) which was still as popular now as it was when I was in school.
3 comments:
How special for them Lauren! So sweet of you to still keep in touch with them. And yum-o I could eat some Mikata right now :)
so fun! Can't believe A and J are that old...which means that we are old too??!!
It's so great that you volunteered and were a part of their lives, but it's even better that you have continued to keep in touch with them! What a special bond!
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