7,739 Miles Away: Three years. THREE YEARS!!

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Three years. THREE YEARS!!

On this day three years ago, John and I landed in Ethiopia. It was a beautiful, sunny Sunday and I will never forget how happy my heart was as our plane descended into Addis Ababa that morning. Our girl was there and the very next morning we would check her out of the orphanage FOR GOOD! For weeks, my heart had ached in a way that I had never before experienced. Almost 8,000 miles had separated us from our daughter and now we were within just a few miles. The long wait was almost over.

As we headed to the Thomas Center the following morning, I was a bundle of emotions. I knew that Sena would probably not be happy to see us. And she wasn't. The poor girl cried when they handed her to me and then she popped her thumb into her mouth and retreated into herself for several days. It was her way of coping with a situation that was completely beyond her ability to comprehend.

We discovered later that afternoon that we were in for one more roller coaster ride in our adoption journey. The embassy appointment that we were hoping to secure later that week was not to be. While we waited for the paperwork to be straightened out, we bonded with our girl.

When we arrived back at our guest house that first evening, we decided to give Sena a bath. My heart broke as I watched her sitting in that tub. She looked up at me with the saddest face I had ever seen as if she wondered why in the world weird white folks had taken off her clothes and were giving her a bath. Before too long, she got over the shock and even splashed the water a bit. We dressed her in footie pajamas and then prepared a bottle for her. She drank it and then we laid her in her crib where she surprised us by sleeping all night long. The next morning, I peered over her crib as she began to stir. Then she looked up at me and was completely startled. I was so thrilled to see her sweet face, but at that point she would have much rather seen the face of her familiar nanny than this new person called mama. Sena had no idea what it meant to have parents. She soon discovered, though, that it wasn't such a bad gig. With each passing day, we saw more smiles and she engaged with us more frequently. There were still plenty of times when she retreated, but we saw that trust was gradually developing.

It is hard for me to believe that it has been three years since we took her into our arms for good. She has grown and changed SO much in that time. The scared little girl that we held three years ago has given way to a strong, funny, and independent little lady. She is a gift to our family and I am so thankful for her.