Her groove

One of the things I always loved about Selam was how she’d greet the day.  In pre-school, she’d create these fantastic and crazy outfits (dress like a duck anyone?), strut out the door and greet everyone as she entered the building.  She just had such….well, swagger.

Kindergarten took away a lot of that swagger.

I thought she’d gotten older and grown out of it.

But day two of Girl Scout Day Camp and the swagger has returned.  She has a crazy outfit on today–and of course it’s picture day! It’s more than just the outfit, though. There’s a confidence in her and a spark in her eye that I have so missed.  I don’t mean to imply that she has been miserable all year. She hasn’t –not at all–just more subdued—more toned down.  She’s wanted to dress like the other kids and wear the same hairstyles, and talk about the same TV shows and movies (even while secretly watching Elmo at night).

She hopped out of the car today, in her crazy Selam outfit and went to join the other girls waiting by the fence.

“I’m Selam, ” she said, “wanna look for bugs?”

I sure hope that the old Selam is back for good.  Because that light—-it’d be a sin to put it under a bushel.

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