I'm a phorh (dad)

I have a child, I'm very happy and very proud.
Dreams do come true, I finally have a son (louksai in laos)
His name is Novice Vanh, I've missed the terrible 2's and the teenaged ainxed years.

I met Novice Vanh when I was in Luang Prabang last year, he's great, is very bright, has fantastic English and is curious about the world. It was his 18th birthday when we were here in December, Karen and I bought him a cake, his first birthday cake, he was so happy and grateful. We were teaching in the evenings, we brought the cake the night before his birthday so he could it eat in the morning after the Alms ceremony. The novices can't eat after noon but Vanh waited until the evening to cut the cake so he could share with us.

Novice Vanh, like many other novice monks, has made sacrifices to be at the temple. Vanh has two years left at monk school, his family is poor, recently he told me he was considering leaving the temple as he needed to earn money. I think he has a big future, he talks about being a doctor and I was concerned he may miss out so I talked to Karen about sponsoring him, she agreed. We suggested that if he finished monk school by remaining at the temple, we would finance his university education. He took time to think things through and discuss it with his family, then sent me a message to come to the temple to talk. He greeted me with a huge smile, he was so happy to be given this opportunity and accepted our help.

I love talking to Vanh, he's very wise for an 18 year old and very respectful to the Buddha, he thinks deeply, talks about his emotions and how they affect others. After a couple of weeks I jokingly talked about feeling like his dad, Vanh was so pleased to hear this and said he had been waiting to hear these words. That was it, tears welling in my eyes, heart full of pride, I'm his 2nd dad and I have a boy, a child to nurture. Vanh says I have to learn more Loa so I can speak to his family, especially his real Dad who apparently is a real character, can't wait to meet them.