Well, where do I start? They blog is not big enough to describe the events of the last few days. It has been an adventure, to say the least. The flights were brutal, as expected. We were sandwiched between two mothers and their babies on an 11 hour flight. We had a beautiful view of the white wall in front of us. But, we had two very vocal little ones laying over each of our laps. The flight from Frankfut to Astana was much better. Our day in Astana was eventful, but after missing a flight, and then a train, we eventually drove in a masheena to six hours to arrive at our hotel at 10pm. Keep in mind that this was Tuesday and we had not slept one bit!! We will, one day have a very funny story to share, but not ready to laught just yet.
All of that melted away this evening, when we drove 1.5 hours to an orphanage in a tiny village. We met with the director, who was so kind and pleasant, and not long after we began our meeting, in walked a tiny little peanut, with a big shy smile. After a couple gold fish and some jumping on the jungle gym, she warmed up to us. She has the sweetest little laugh. She was extremely excited to be able to play in the room all by herself and was anxious to show us every toy their was. By the end of the hour, she had given me a hug, but still not so sure about Mike. After we walked her to her room, she gave me another hug and then one for daddy. The other children were waving and trying to get our attention and she told them in Russian, no that is my mommy. This, of course, made me cry. It was a good day.
It is very late and we need to catch up on some sleep, so I will try to have some more details tomorrow.
Grandma "C", can not wait to finally meet her.
ReplyDeleteCrying..... can't wait to see her, She is so very beautiful and looks like she could be your biological daughter! I love her already! Miss you terribly! _Aly
ReplyDelete*(This is Josh) We were at a funeral today burying someone that should not be gone. Don and Freda Gilmore's daughter Rhonda who was tragically killed on Christmas Eve in a car accident. ...I have been thinking of you guys constantly since you left. I am not managing my emotion well today. I want to change the World and make a difference, I want to see less hurting and pain in the World and more love and compassion. There is pain everywhere.....but right now I feel as if I can see a little tiny glimmer of hope from the spark in this little girls eyes. You two are so brave...foreign country, first time flying for you Sandy!, longest time to be without your boys, embarking on an adventure much bigger than a personal adoption, the rescuing of an orphan! I absolutely cannot say how proud I am to have the privilege of being a part of this miracle taking shape!
ReplyDeleteI was just talking to Tom Casanova about this plight and I mentioned our consideration of adoption as well. I also said that it just seemed so overwhelming to me to think of all the others that I could not help if we adopted one, and he reminded me of the story of the starfish which I will post here and I will leave off with this.- Josh
The Starfish Story
Original Story by: Loren Eisley
One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean.
Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?”
The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”
“Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish?
You can’t make a difference!”
After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish,
and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said…”
I made a difference for that one.”
Josh - There's a quote I just love that goes with your story....
ReplyDelete"You won't change the world by adopting one child, but for that child, the world will change!"