My joy in life is connecting with children. My favorite role in life is Auntie. I have a passion for helping children and youth reach their full potential, regardless of challenges. This plays out in my pastoral identity, in my work with Friends of Padhar Schools and in my personal life.
On most days, I feel like I’m still 25 (or maybe 30) and relate to kids as the older sister/auntie-type.
Until I met a little girl at the Felix Annual Day Celebration. She was about 3 years old and didn’t speak English, but I was joking with her about the candy she’d been given. “Where’s mine?” asked her. “Is that for me?” And she laughed and hid behind her mom. It went on for a while. And then she said something to her mother in Marathi and all the teachers laughed. “What did she say?” I asked.
Her mother told me, “She said, ‘That Grandma is trying to steal my chocolate!’” OMG I laughed so hard. And now I am happy to happy a new granny-persona.