these moments especially

Some people are destined to change your life.

Josey Ann changed mine over and over again.

I can’t remember the first time I met her – my memory tells we were just always a team. Me, her nanny; her, my sidekick.

I’ve written about her many times here, and the last time I saw her was in February 2010.

I was worried driving over to her last Thursday. Worried that she’d have forgotten about me, worried that she’d not like me, worried that she’d be mad, or afraid, or shy.

But when I walked in her grandparent’s house, she jumped into my arms and kept yelling, “Holly, I’ve missed you so much!” It was as if I’d left to run an errand and returned.

That’s notable for us.

I taught her that people return – that the door might close behind me, but that shortly, it would reopen and I would appear. Even if it was 18 months later.

We spent the entire evening together in what was a highlight of my trip. Her mother and I talked and I got to see her, the reinvented person she is now. I was ecstatic to find out she got the help she needed and that her eyes were alive.