Dear everyone

Greetings again for the New Year – it’s time for another fabulous story -a true story of Miss Grace. Today is her second day of school in the first grade in an international school. We’re proud of all our kids, but she’s special. We had to take a chance / but life’s a chance. And this one we won. She’s eight years of age. Her full legal name is: Petcharat Puangsri (which means: Precious Diamond – like in a wedding ring)

It goes like this. We have a boy. Brilliant. – in fact on of the smartest kids in all of Thailand and 12 years old, but ‘he blew it’ - got thrown out of school three times…one of the best schools in the land and it was a full scholarship / simply because he was naughty and got into fights. We tried. Oh goodness, we tried and tried , but he wouldn’t listen …. So finally the Head Master sez: no more. And wham a forty (40,000) thousand USD scholarship. That’s right. Oh dear me. And no walking back. But the school is cool. Said – your young man beat up another kid. We won’t press charges. No problems at the police station…. Thank goodness, and now, he’s in a government school in one of the remote Provinces, and actually doing well, so all turns out well… eventually.

But that’s not the story.

The story is Miss Grace. Oh wow!!! She is almost as smart. Spunky. Sassy. Eightyears old and today is her second day in taking the place of the boy in the English speaking international School, and she is happy, and her class mates love her and the teachers say although she doesn’t speak English yet…. She tries and isn’t afraid. Everyone of you reading this would love to have her as your favorite daughter, even though you already have a favorite daughter. She’s not an orphan / but almost … her mum’ been in prison for drugs 3 times & her dad is a ‘roustabout’ but was smart enuf to give his daughter to us …. -

I am sending you a picture of Miss Grace. Her teeth need fixing – but they are baby teeth, so no big problem. We had to buy her new school uniforms…. So that’s taken care of. Also she still loves her old teddy bear, and once a week, she asks us for two dollars USD to buy her granny some betel nut to chew on … that’s fabulous.. If you were her, you’d simply say … she’s great !!!

I will write more to you later, but I know she will do okay in her exams.

Prayers & love from all of us .. Fr. Joe and all our mob.