I scrolled through literally thousands of images today from trips to China. Thousands more fill my head that I wish I had in jpg form forever preserved. So much joy captured in flat images on my screen. So many children no longer orphans. So many children who have gone from lost to found, from lonely to a beloved son or daughter.
I want the joy to overwhelm me for those children who I know by their Chinese names who now have new names and last names…last names. Yet, my heart hurts over one.
When I saw him last, he asked me how one of his friends was doing now that he was in America. He told me he missed him, that he hoped to see him again.
I gave him some artwork that the boy had made and sent with me as a gift for the orphanage. He smiled so big his eyes looked entirely shut, and he thanked me a few times over.
He giggled as the doctors on the team asked him to jump rope and look this way and push his tongue out that way. He tried to do everything we asked him to do and told us when it was just a little bit too hard to do. And, he asked if he’d ever get to come to America.
I want to celebrate with all the stories I have been able to witness, all the redemption there. I do celebrate. But, how I wish I could add this boy’s picture to those.
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“Joe” is eligible for adoption through Madison Adoption Associates and will AGE OUT of adoption in August. He is diagnosed with septo-optic dysplasia which sounds super significant and scary. But, he sees and he smiles and he wants a family. There is a $5,000 Bright Futures grant available to the family who says yes to him. Email me or Sarah@madisonadoption.org for more information.