The Orphanage

i've attemped a beginning to this blog about 3 times and then i delete the first line. i'm not sure how to start this one. i'm not sure how to end it.

we met rebecca at 8 am and began our drive to Yangchun. what we thought was going to take about 2 hours took 3. 3 hours in a van. 3 hours in a van with a child who rarely traveled. 3 hours in a van with a child who rarely travels and who is not wearing a seat belt. yep, that's right. no seatbelt. she was actually really good but what heath and i are learning is that echo is busy. and she is strong! if she is not sleeping or eating...she is MOVING!!!! the first part of the drive, we gave her snacks and let her look out the window. and when she became a little crazy, we hogtied her in the carrier that we have for her. she hates to love it. and she loves to hate it. i strapped her in that bad boy until she finally fell asleep. she was golden for the last two hours.

once we got to the orphanage, i couldn't help but get nervous over what we might see. i can tell that she'd been loved and well cared for but it still breaks my heart to know that she was there for almost a year. we were greeted at the door by the director, named Yu, and one of the nannies that had been there on gotcha day. they led us in, where they asked us to take off our shoes and put on some flip flops. i only wish i could have taken a picture of the cute little flops she picked out for heath. too funny.

we saw the first floor which is a little play area for the kids, as well as the kitchen area. it was so clean. it was bright and colorful. the second floor was for their volunteer staff. they have volunteers to come a few times a year to help with the children and they stay in these quarters. again, clean and relatively very nice! i was so happy to know that they had these volunteers. my thoughts immediately took me to my time spent in cambodia with all those little ones and the happiness that it brings the children as well as the overwhelming joy it brings to those of us who helped. to know that echo received that kind of love and support made me giddy.

the third floor was the babies sleeping quarters. as i walked up the stairs, i could see about 10 little babies in highchairs, jumpers, crawling, walking....they seemed to be everywhere. heath was already up there talking to the husband and wife team who help at the orphanage, donald and his wife.....well, we just call her mrs. donald because we never figured out her name. they were super sweet. the children looked so well cared for. one little boy who'd been in the highchair came over to my leg and hugged it so tight. he had a very severe cleft lip. he went from me to heath. grabbing our legs and hugging, putting his little body between our legs and holding on so tight. he was precious. i wanted to snatch him up. he was so sweet and so cute. they all were.

donald asked to hold echo and she went right to him. she loved him. and he loved her. it was clear. mrs. donald talked to me about echo's schedule and wanted to know how she was doing with us. just like a mother would want to know. i was so happy to know how much they cared. donald showed me echo's bedroom and her cribmates. echo's best friend's name is sarah. to hear donald talk about them, reminds me of thelma and louise. sounds like they were a crazy team. very silly and mischievious together. racing their walkers down the hall, racing up the stairs, stealing one another's toys, holding hands through their cribs, flinging toys into one another's beds. awesome. echo had a buddy. she had her side kick. i love the thought of it.

there was also a little baby there that looked as though it was born yesterday. he was tiny. maybe 6 or 7 lbs. he had a cleft lip. very severe and was born premature. he was found a couple of months ago weighing in at 1.5 lbs. when donald told me this, i quickly gasped and questioned if they had the medical supplies needed to help out such a tiny and fragile baby. he said, "baby need love, we give him love, he can live on love. babies can make it through a lot if they are truly loved." i thought I would break down right there. i'm here to tell you. i believe in the whole love thing but i also believe in miracles. and that is nothing short of a miracle. and there i watched that little miracle sleep on a bed made out of iron and a piece of wood to sleep on. that little guy has more strength than I can even imagine. I'm pulling for him. i believe he's going to have a great life ahead of him. i have to believe that.

they took us around the office. we picked up an 11 year boy to take to lunch. the director wanted us to meet him and get to know him so that we could go back to Lily, a Lifeline employee, and tell her about him. they really want him adopted out before he turns 14. at 14 children "age out" and they have to leave the orphanage. he was precious. smart. well mannered. he had been raised well. it broke my heart.

we had a really great lunch with the director and a nanny. echo was busy as usual. oh so busy. we'll have to work on table manners.

finally, we went to the back of the orphanage to take the nanny back. she showed us where echo was found at 2 months old. 2 months old. someone, her mother maybe? had kept her for 2 months. she had loved echo. had she given echo a name? did she sing to her? rock her? did she try to make it work? why two months? as i stood there with echo, i said a prayer. that mother's loss was my ultimate gain. i get to reap all of the rewards. i will never stop praying for that mother. she gave me her greatest gift. my echo.

then i said some things to echo that only she and i will ever know. words between a mother and a daughter. the kind who've been brought togther by fate, by God. i have no doubt that we've been intentionally placed with this child.

back to reality....the drive home. 3 hours back home. again, she was really good but heath and i will be sore tomorrow after passing her back and forth, back and forth, trying to entertain her. we were so glad to get back to our hotel.

heath went out to get take-out and came home with two nasty looking cheese burgers, some crappy fruit dipped in mayonase and french fries. we ate a few french fries and called it a day. a good day. a really, really good day.