Four years ago, a nervous couple boarded a plane for
Guangzhou. They were going to meet their
new daughter in a mere few hours. They
had thought, dreamed, and prayed about her for months. What would the meeting be like? To calm their nerves, they focused on what
they needed to do when they landed.
Miles away, a sweet girl woke up and began a day of
unknowns. She prepared to meet her new
family and her 4th mother.
She recalled the stories and memories.
She had been told of the couple that found a baby peering up at them
from a trash can. She remembered how the
mother gave her a new haircut and dressed her in a pretty, new dress. The grandmother had taken her hand and told
her they were setting out on an adventure.
During the trip, the grandmother set her on a bench and told her she
needed to go to the bathroom. This five
year old sweetheart sat for quite a while waiting, until she began to cry
realizing that she would never see this mother again. A very sweet foster mother helped to heal her
heart. She loved her times of cooking
with this new mother. She allowed
herself to love this woman and was heart-broken once again when the time came
for her to retire from fostering. She
adapted to a new life once again, as she joined a “simulated family” in the
orphanage. She wondered what this next
mother would be like.
The couple finally landed, they were quite a bit behind
schedule. As they departed from the
plane, they were happy to see their guide and learn that they should have about
30 minutes to settle in and prepare to meet their new daughter. However, when they reached the hotel, panic
once again set in. Their hotel room
would not be ready until it was time to leave.
They were ushered into the business center. There they scoured through suitcases of dirty
laundry in front of gawking business people, as they prepared gifts for nannies
and directors and attempted to put together a little bag for their new
daughter.
On the other side of the city, the sweet girl was dressed in
multiple layers of clothing. She was
told that she would probably be riding on a plane that day and it might be
cold. This little girl was only 8 years
old and her nerves were starting to get the best of her. She would have a long car ride, she had only
been in a car a few times during her life.
She started to feel a little sick to her stomach, but tried to be brave.
The couple was told that their room was finally ready. They had just enough time to set their
suitcases in their room and make sure they had their camera and gifts. As they rode to Civil Affairs, they were told
that their daughter would be asked tomorrow if she would be willing to live
with them. This added a whole new level
of nervous anticipation. They thought
only children 10 and older were asked this question. They finally arrived at the building and found
a spot on the big black couches. They
watched and waited with racing heart beats.
The little girl breathed heavily as the car pulled up to the
big building. Her director, which she
didn’t know real well, took her hand and led her out of the car and into the
building. They rode up the escalator and
she felt her stomach doing flip-flops. They
approached the glass doors and she saw big black couches and strange looking
faces. They didn’t look like the people
she was used to seeing, but more like the unfamiliar faces she had seen in the
book sent by her new family.
The couple anxiously looked at the door. Their hearts burst as they watched the
beautiful, black-haired girl with almond-shaped eyes approach. They tried to get their camera out quickly,
but their fingers felt heavy and they couldn’t work fast enough. They watched this sweet girl trip over the threshold
and fall, grimacing at what must have been a hard hit. She glanced shyly at them, but seemed to
recognize them, as she was ushered to a little room behind a curtain where all
of the children waited. Their hearts
broke into a million pieces and they had to fight every urge they felt to run
to her and gather her into their arms.
The little girl was so upset, of course her legs wouldn’t
work today; she couldn’t keep them from shaking. She saw the faces that matched those in her
book. Those were her new parents. Did they see her fall? She was taken to a little room and seated on
a chair, next to a curtain for a doorway.
There were lots of smaller children busily playing in this room, they
must not have had any idea what would be happening. She couldn’t help but turn and peek through
the space left between the curtain, which hadn’t been fully shut, and the door
frame. She wondered about these strange
people. Would they be nice? How long would this last? Would they like her even though she was older
and had a little difficulty walking?
The couple watched the curtain with a fixed gaze. Every once and awhile they caught a pair of precious
eyes peeking through the gap. Would she
like them? Would they be able to
communicate? Had she gotten the book,
letters, and gifts they had sent? Would
she want to stay with them? Would she
understand how much they loved her already??
The time came, the little girl was guided out from the
curtain room and the couple was told to come up to the “Meeting Place”. They took the little girl’s hand with tears
in their eyes and their hearts were once again changed forever…
WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH MEILYNN!!! HAPPY 4th GOTCHA
DAY!!!
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