Shopping day with local Chinese girl

     Mel took a local village girl out shopping for her 19th birthday.  This girl had to grow up way too fast.  At the age of 8, she left for school one day while her mom was in labor and came home that afternoon to a new baby sister and a mother that would never wake up again.  She laid in bed beside her deceased mom and snuggled her for the last time, wishing she could be where ever her mom was.  At the age of fifteen she got pregnant and shortly after married.  She is now married and has a 3 year old son and all the responsibilities that come with that, but hasn't had her much needed mother.  Mel has started telling her that she will be her "mother."  She did her hair and makeup and then took her shopping the whole day of her birthday, she could have anything in the world, but the one thing she wanted was a big stuffed teddy bear.  Mel bought her everything she could convince the young girl to get, she was too caught up with how much things cost.  It seemed that she had never been loved on in this way.  It seemed Mel enjoyed loving on her as much as she enjoyed receiving it.  Its days like these that make our life here seem worth it and lets us know just how loved we have been.