What's the greatest payment in the world? - A SMILE!!!

This weekend i finally managed to keep a promise i made to a kid i sorta kinda decided to Big Brother.
The boy is 11 going on 12 and the son of my father-in-law's nephew. He has a learning disability that prohibits him from accessing any knowledge he gains in a continuous matter. It comes out all scrambled. Because of that he feels "stupid" and has been harrassed in school as well. He feel VERY comfortable around adults who understand his plight. Kids can be so brutal - especially pre-teen who dont understand something due to immaturity.

A few month ago we went over to P. and M.'s new place for a house warming party. I brought my digicam to take pix of everyone there. T. saw it and in his 11 year old enthusiasm bugged me until i gave him the cam. He shot until the battery was empty.

When i got home and downloaded the pictures i was stunned to discover that T. did an amazing job. He instinctively shot at the right angle, the right light and perfectly framed. When i emailed the pix to his parents i asked them if he had ever done any photography and they said "no".
i was amazed!

now i had been taking T. out to the movies on occasion and he enjoyed that tremendously. He is a little chatter box and wouldnt stop yapping except for the 2h of the flick. He seemed to really blossom around me and his parents too mentioned that he would have good days after we went out.

So i got to thinking. I had my old F601 and a crappy old lens. I wouldnt get any cash for it and its only lying around anyway. And T. really seemed enthused when he got my digicam so what the heck - i decided to give it to him.

Yesterday was just a GORGEOUS day here in Vancouver. Chilly but sunny. A perfect day for some photography. So i called P. and asked him if its ok to take T. for a day out with the cam. He agreed.
So we went over to Surrey to pick up T.
When we arrived he was already waiting all jittery to get going. So was his younger brother, L. who's 8.
When i opened the trunk, pulled out my old cam and gave it to him he was all exited. "For me to shoot with?" he asked. "No, for you to keep for good!" i answered.

I will not forget his expression when he comprehended what i had just said! His eyes wide open, his face glowing with a grin that spread around his face!!! Yes, AROUND his face..not just from ear to ear!! he could believe it! it wasnt christmas nor birthday. well maybe for him yesterday was both!
Of course i didnt forget L. either. i had a little cheap cam that i found at work. A plastic thing with a crappy zoom. But L. didnt mind. He was elated too.

so off we went to Centennial Park in Tsawwassen . It was just amazing out there. We got to enjoy taking pictures of a beautiful big eagle sitting in a tree, lots of people on the beach and a great panorama of Vancouver. we spent 2 1/2 hours out and about. Both T. and L. were jumping around in joy, shooting away film like its free to develop and print!!! at the end of the day we had 4 rolls of film, aobut 100 digipix and the parts to make a whole crab!!

when we dropped them off at home and said our goodbyes, i got this monster hug from this little boy. His smile was still going twice around his head and his eyes still showed a happiness only rivelled by a $100 million lottery win!!!!

when the boys's mom asked me how much she owed me for the cam's, all i could do is look at her in astonishment.
"You want to know how much i want for those cam's?" i asked her. "Look at the faces of the two boys - that is all the payment i need!!"