She’s one of my favs. Maybe it’s the way that she runs to me for a hug each time she sees me or maybe it’s her smile. But one way or another, Nam Wan has a way of making my face light up when I see her, despite her stubborn streak.

One of the first days I hung out with her, she “read” to me out of a cartoon-strip version of the Gospels. She told me about how God was a baby. She told me all about how Jesus opened the eyes of the blind man. She told me about Jesus dying on the cross. And about how God loves everyone. All in Thai and with very animated gestures, of course. I asked her where God is and she gave me one of those, “Don’t you know?” looks and said, “PraJao yu ti-noon!” (God is way up there!) with her finger pointed straight up in the air. She doesn’t seem to understand that I barely speak Thai… or if she does, she doesn’t let it bother her. She just jabbers away, climbs into my arms for a hug, begs to be spun around, and then runs off with my camera or begins to pose as the model for a very long photo shoot.