Got the call. Court date in July. Cloud nine for days. Rushed packing last minute. Of course. Long flight. Lots of candy and movies. Enjoyed every minute of this time with Lance. Arrived in DC for a day. So much fun. Arrived in Ethiopia. There is no where like it. Beautiful country. Beautiful people. Truly unique souls. Obama was in town. Traffic nightmare. Waited in a dusty van for over 4 hours before finally getting to Senas orphanage. Small town. Very busy with lots of people and animals. So many monkeys. So so many monkeys. We suddenly arrive. Just a metal blue door in the middle of all the busyness. We are told this is the orphanage. Exit. We go in. They ask if we are here for Sena. Yes we are. We are told they are preparing her. We wait for 5 minutes in a small room with open windows. You can hear the kids playing and some crying. A pretty nanny in bright pink scrubs appears with a tiny little baby with cornrows and a terrified look. There is our girl. She clings to her nanny for dear life. Not feeling the white strangers one bit. We peel the poor child from her death grip and attempt to calm her. She reluctantly gives it up. Her eyes never do. She's on high alert. We can't believe she is in our arms. We try to take her all in. She is just the cutest. So many years we have waited for this. We feel like the mommy and daddy. Yet we feel out of place here. We don't quite fit in. Everyone is so kind. All the kids are precious. Senas skin looks bad and she has a cold. I am already feeling the mommy instinct to make this better. But I can't. I'm not the mommy yet. We give hugs and go to our lodge. So many monkeys. Explore and enjoy this amazing place and amazing people. Wake up and go see our girl one more time. She's still terrified of us. We have a peace about it. We watch her play with her friends and nannies. She's a loving child. She's been loved and played with and has a little sparkle in her eyes. What a relief. We play and hug and take 700 photos and then we head back to addis for court the next day. Court comes and goes. We answer a few questions and like that we are officially mama and daddy. We celebrate that night with a traditional Ethiopian meal. Such a fun night. Have I mentioned this country and culture is just so cool? We get sick. Like, really really sick. The rest of our trip is spent in the room. One bathroom. Not many towels. I won't go into detail. But just gross. We fly home. Strange to leave her but we have peace. Still so sick. Again, no details but gross. We get to Toronto for a day layover. It's beautiful. And the sickness is starting to level off. We enjoy the city. Soaking in our last time out for a while just the two of us. We fly home. Our girls are so excited to see us. Nora is a little mad at me. We order Mexican food and eat it as a family on a blanket in the living room. It's so good to be home. We nest. We move room arrangements. We get the call that it's time to return about 4 weeks later. It's game time. I leave with my mom. This departure wasn't pretty. The girls were not excited for mommy to go to Africa again. I get nervous. The reality is setting in. We fly to Dubai. The experience was terrible. I won't say more. We then arrive in Ethiopia. We are greeted by the same warm, beautiful faces. It's raining. The first thing we hear is "welcome back. We go get the children now." Wow. What!? Just like that huh!? We end up going to the hotel first. My mind needed to unwind and I had a few things I wanted to have ready for her. We quickly are on our way. We drove through a beautiful area. We arrive. Her new orphanage is in a sweet little home. A much quieter, cleaner area. We walk in. It smells warm and like life and coffee and children. It's a happy place. Senas lifelong friend who has been with her for a long time is standing at the door waiting for his mama. She is with us. Wow they are all here. They live here. Our stories are finally merging. We are taking them home. Today! A chubby little girl waddles out of a door in the far left corner. Cute as can be and in fresh clean clothes. She's comfortable here. Just wandering around. What's on her head? Holy cow! Now that's a big ring worm. I pick her up. She just stares at me. Her eyes are a million times less scared than they were a month ago. She settles into me quickly. Fearful but peaceful. Only by the grace of God. My mom snaps photos. Things feel much less awkward this time. I'm here to get my baby. We have coffee. We ask the nannies questions. So many questions. We give long hugs. Tears are shed. Lots of bittersweet tears. We say goodbye. My feet can hardly step into the wet grass and move forward. We are taking her away forever. The magnitude of it all is overwhelming. She falls asleep in my arms in the van almost instantly. We drive silently through the Ethiopian night. Windows open. Totally dark. Wind in our hair. Two friends silently holding a new son and new daughter. Not many words are spoken. So much is understood. Surreal. Peaceful. Powerful. Sena clings tight. She didn't let go for days. I was her new person. We go together now. Just like that. We stay with her at the hotel. Lots of playing. Eating. Laughing. This is one funny and smart little girl. She laughs through life. Such joy and resilience. She loves eggs. She loves to play. She loves to communicate. So much personality and life in this new little package of mine. We pack up. We have a stressful time at the airport in addis. We board the plane. I cry as we fly away from Ethiopia. Her home. But no more. We get to Dubai. We sleep hard. We leave the next day to go home. The flight went well with a few nap time freak outs. By both mommy and baby. We finally arrive home. Customs was a slight nightmare. So ready to see lance and my big girls. My mom and I are pretty weary after two days of travel. We finally make it out. All of our most loved ones are there with signs and smiles and love. Support. Encouragement. In awe over Sena. Zoe and Nora meet her. I hug Lance. So many emotions. It's all a bit of a blur. We take photos and then load up. All three of my girls want me to hold them at the same time. I'm sweating and so tired. The reality of the job I'm embarking upon is hitting me quicker than I imagined. We all get loaded into the car. Just like that. Or new sweet pea is in the car. Just like that we head home to start a new chapter. To be continued.....
No comments:
Post a Comment