We are a Big Family. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Siouxland is important to us, and our little, for many reasons. We have learned things about ourselves and our community. We believe that our Little has learned things from us, also. We have had some great experiences together. We decided to do this together as a family and chose a Little Brother, since boys were more in need of matches.
Some kids, because of circumstances, don’t have the opportunity to try new things, thrive or be encouraged in the interests they have. They may have more financial struggles and less parental supervision. We find it significant to be encouraging and expose our Little to new experiences. It is also encouraging for a young person to have positive role models in their lives. Our Little has taught us to value our own role models and appreciate our own circumstances in life. Our Little’s father was in prison at one time and we hope to be one of the positive influences in his life, so hopefully he makes wise choices later in life.
We think our Little has learned some things, too. We have tried to convey that basic good choices matter. For instance, education is important. Not doing drugs, not drinking and not smoking are also very important. We hope he sees that there are people in the world who care about others and ask for nothing in return.
Our Little has gotten to have new experiences and we have gotten to enjoy his humor and company. We like to simply hang out at the house, goof around and have supper. Then we usually play some board games, Apples to Apples Jr. seems to be our favorite.
We have attended some of his sporting events, like wrestling, football and baseball. Layne has given him some pointers in sports and likes to take him to Bandits’ games.
Other fun times were spent at Wild Water West water park, exploring a farm and going to Pioneer Show. Once we rescued a dog from a cliff by the river and we named him Cliff until animal control came to get him. Another time we got ice cream at Edgar’s Old Fashioned Soda Fountain. We ended up having a kitten stuck in our engine there and spent the day finding her a nice home on a farm.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Siouxland is a wonderful organization and we are grateful we’ve had the opportunity to have these experiences.
– Trista Delperdang