Fre'm Sam and Mama Casey

Sam and Casey came to Haiti to spend 2 weeks with us. We had a wonderful time with them and we were very sad to see them go. Well, then Dorothy got appendicitis and next thing you know, Sam and Casey were on their way back to Haiti. So in the past month, Casey has spent 3 weeks with us and Sam has spent 4. They flew out for good this morning (assuming no one else gets appendicitis) and we miss them already.

Sam was my right hand man. He accompanied me on errands all over town since I don't like driving alone here, especially with the mechanical problems our car has had lately. He did odd jobs around the house, making repairs and keeping things shipshape. He entertained us with music at all hours. Yes, I mean ALL hours. He was my DIT (Doctor in Training), assisting me with walking the ravine, doing burn dressings, and meds at the house. He picked me up from school, usually in the car, but once on foot. He made me sandwiches and brought me drinks. Basically, whatever I was doing, Sam was doing it with me, spoiling me rotten the whole time.

Most importantly, Sam was a big brother to Kervens. Kevs is normally the big brother of the house, the one that 22 children look up to and fight to be around. This month though, Kevs got the chance to be a little brother: to wrestle with someone tough enough to take it, to tease someone who can tease back, and to talk about guy stuff with someone who understands. In a house full of women, Kevs desperately needs Christian male influence and Sam gave him that.





Casey was my relief pitcher. She came in on Saturday morning after my all-nighter with Levinsky and took him off my hands. She assumed most of my responsabilities with the work team while I was sick so that I could get some rest. She even made me soup and played with my hair to cheer me up.

Casey gave our children so much love while she was here. If there was ever a time when I could not find Casey upstairs, I always knew to look where the babies were. She would be sitting in the midst of them, often covered by 5 or 6 different children. She took them dancing, she taught them words, and she just loved them, nonstop. Casey has a great sense of humor - for example, we were all doing an impromtu opera one night and she had us all falling on the floor every time she started singing in her old lady frog voice. (Her real singing voice is actually quite lovely.)






Both Sam and Casey were a huge help and encouragement to us all. They were always building us up and making us laugh, often simultaneously. It feels like a big part of our family is missing today, but we are hopeful that they will be back among us soon.