A wonderful trip to Ecuador- Tributes to Mason

The park sign dedicated to Mason at Ambassador's Residence
Mateo and his award for being a great brother

Despite marathon delays getting there, it was a great trip. Very tough, lots of good memories but well worth the delays. Mateo got to have lunch with his buddies and recess Wednesday and Thursday and playdates in the afternoon both days. It was like he never left. They just jumped right in and played like it was he left for vacation. Danielle got to spend time with her friends and they surrounded her with lots of hugs and love. Kirk arrived on Thursday and was embraced by the Peace Corps office.

The ceremonies Friday were beautiful. The weather held out and we were outside. The park is so kid friendly- Mason would have loved the new park. Our friends Karen and Marty spoke, Kirk and Danielle said a few words and gave an award to Mateo for being a great brother, and then the Ambassador's husband, John Walsh spoke on behalf of the both of them and dedicated the park to Mason. We had a short prayer and then unveiled the sign. We will post the slide show when we return from Thanksgiving in NY.

Then we had lunch at Peace Corps. Cisco dedicated a plaque to Mason that had his photo and said "In loving memory of Mason Leach, Son of Peace Corps Ecuador" This plaque is in the reception area and Mason is next to the official photos of Bush and Cheney. It will hang there as long as there is a Peace Corps Ecaudor. They then had traditional lunch, a mariachi band serenading Kirk for his birthday and a soccer game with staff and Mateo.

Later that afternoon we had a dinner at our friend's Susan's house with all our Cotopaxi friends. We shared the slide show of Mason's life, shared laughs and cake for Kirk's birthday.

Many thanks to all our friends who organized everything, opened their homes, had playdates and helped us heal. It truly was healing for all of us.