"Soar. Because sometimes we're broken open but that's when we fly."

That quote came from one of my chaperones, Cynthia, and I think it was a perfect saying for today, and this trip.

We had our first morning at Sarah Fox Children's Hospital, a convalescent care hospital for children no longer "sick enough" to be in the hospital but not well enough to go home. The children come to this "step-down" facility to get better before they head home, or in many cases, into foster care.

This was the toughest day I've had here so far. We got a brief introduction to the hospital followed by a quick tour. During our initial walk through, when we enter the toddler room, a little boy sprinted across the room and latched right onto my legs. When we split into three groups I immediately wanted to be back in the room with the toddlers. When we walked back into the room, many of the kids stood up and did the same as the other and ran right over to us, so happy to have some people to play with.

The experience today was one that I was expected to have while I was here but something I don't think I could've prepared for. Children were screaming to be held, screaming to get out of the room, screaming for toys, and screaming just because. We couldn't hold them all but that's all they wanted. It was a completely overwhelming experience and definitely an image I will have in my head forever. After about an hour I saw one boy who stood out because he was so quiet, standing by the door just looking out of it and then back into the room. He looked so scared. I picked him up and he immediately curled into me and as I rubbed his back he fell asleep and stayed just where her was for the rest of the day. Even when he woke up he kept his head tucked right under my chin. I cried as I held him for hours for reasons I don't quite know how to explain but in this small room of pure chaos I think we both found comfort in each other.