Emile

Stella has a love. His name is Emile. There is only one little problem.

He lives in France. (well, and he's 19)

About a year ago, he moved to the US to live with the Rozmus family. (our bestest friends ever - out here in good old South Carolina.) We were excited to hear that they would be hosting a french exchange student, but it wasn't until we saw how wonderful he was with Stella, and what a cool young man he was, that we really got excited. We loved being able to spend time with Emile. He was a fun, hardworking, adventurous guy, who really knew how to win Stella over. (She knew how to win him over too. When he first came - He could barely speak any English, and he said that when he got tired of trying to understand everyone, he would just talk "baby talk" with Stella so that he could give his brain a rest, and everyone else would leave him alone.) In fact, one time, Stella was sitting with her dad, on his lap (her absolute favorite place to be) when Emile walked in. She then shocked us all, by asking to go sit with Emile rather than with her dad. That practically never happens. Unfortunately earlier this month, Emile's time here in America was up, and he headed back home to his Mother (who I'm sure is now in Heaven with him back) and far far away from us. We explained to Stella that He was going on an airplane, far away, but she can't quite grasp that she won't see him, for a very long time at least. She has asked for him now a few times, and we explain... "remember he went on an airplane far far away?". She will then just say His name and the word plane over and over again. Poor little girl just wants to see her friend.
The hardest part of saying goodbye to Emile for me, was knowing how much Stella loved him, and how there was no real way for her to understand that he wasn't gonna be around all the time anymore. Maybe we will have to skype with him sometime soon.
We love you Emile, and we miss you!