After we left Cyn we went to the birthday party of a little boy named Asefa. Asefa's parents and I were in the same travel group and he and Grace were at Horizon House at the same time though she was with the infants and he was with the bigger kids. I haven't really written that much about our actual stay in Ethiopia but when I look back to that week I always think about how lucky we were to travel with such fantastic families. It's such an overwhelming experience to be in another country and meeting your child for the first time and I can't imagine what the experience would have been like without such amazing people to share it with. They get the wait, the fear of being rejected by this child you've wanted for so long, the anxiety and excitement of traveling to their birth place and meeting with their birth families. It's hard to explain what that's like unless you've lived it. Asefa's parents were part of that experience and quite frankly, had it not been for them,and the other families in the group, I don't know how I would have survived the plane ride home since my sister and I were both so sick. All of the families we traveled with were fantastic but Asefa's parents were particularly wonderful to me. I remember crying because I was so sick but was so worried about Grace and Asefa's mom just sat next to me and held mine and my sisters hands and said, "We've got you and we've got her. We have plenty of hands on this plane so you rest and you don't worry". Talk about a godsend.
We also got to see Tomas, another little boy whose family we traveled with. Tomas' family will always hold a special place in my heart because we went on our birth family visit with them and one other family. It was probably the most emotional day I have ever experienced. Totally rewarding but exhausting in every possible way. After the meeting we made our way back down two hours of THE bumpiest road I have ever in my life been on to Awassa where we stayed the night at a hotel. The three of our families had dinner together and shared our experiences and stories which is something I will never forget.
Both boys are doing unbelievably well and it was so great to see them and their families and reminisce and get caught up on how everyone is doing. We took lots of pictures(which I'm not posting because I didn't think to ask their parents permission)of the three kids together. Neither boy knew Grace that well as they are older and were in a different house but they enjoyed seeing her and she them. Everyone kept remarking on how amazing the difference in Grace was. Tomas' family got to Ethiopia a few days before the rest of the group and they had gone into the baby house and saw Grace. Tomas' mom told me that she couldn't believe that Grace was the same baby that she held who was limp as a rag doll and is now this crawling, babbling, dancing little girl. All the kids have come so far and I'm in awe of how resilient they all are. Especially the older boys who had the language barrier to overcome as well as having been with their birth families so much longer than Grace was. And here we are six months later sharing birthday cake and raving about our amazing children and being so thankful for having them and each other.
It's hard to believe that this time last year I was anxious and irritable about hearing any news about who my punkin was. I couldn't imagine that in a years time I would be home six months with my amazing daughter and sitting at her Ethiopian friends birthday party. I love days like today.
