You never know what will happen.

All summer we've been anticipating our child coming from The Fresh Air Fund. It's a great organization that's been around since the late 1800's. In more modern times, a family signs up to host a child for 1-2 weeks in the summer. These children come from the 5 boroughs on New York. These children rarely leave the city and certainly don't get to have real summer vacation. The families are supposed to let them be kids for their visit. Lots of outdoor time and things they wouldn't get to do otherwise. We signed up as a host family back in April, and got matched with a child in May. I've been planning all sorts of things to do in two weeks, for him to a have a fantastic summer. He was supposed to come this afternoon. I got a call at 8:30am saying he wasn't at the bus and a confirmation at 10am that he didn't show. We're all a little disappointed. I'm a little sad for this child. It's not his fault he didn't make the bus. I hope where ever he is that he's safe.

On the upside, there are lots of kids and not enough host families, so there is a waiting list (well, that's not the good news) The good news is that there is another bus coming in next week at the same location. The director is sending a request for another child for us. So hopefully there will be a child on the waiting list that will be able to come spend a week with us. I'll be packing lots of fun into a single week versus two weeks, but it'll be good. The director seems certain that we'll have a match by tomorrow. I'm hopeful, we've been looking so forward to this time.

Funny thing is that during our interview the director told us to be patient. She said her first match didn't show up. They met a second bus and that same child has been coming to their home every summer for 10 years! She was 7 at her first visit and will turn 17 this year. 65% of the kids are invited back the following summers. After the first summer, you can even have them spend longer time periods with you. This girl spends nearly the whole summer with her host family. I hope there was a plan with this no-show. I'm very hopeful for match and meeting a new person next week!