Yesterday, the three kids and I headed to Milwaukee to visit my sister Alicia. (Actually, we were on a mission to deliver fruit that she ordered from Aaron's boychoir fundraiser -- she won the award for furthest delivery, I think!)
Earlier this week, she'd been hinting at a "super secret project" she was working on. When we arrived, we went into her house to have a snack before going to Discovery World science museum, and she gave us a heart-shaped box with the project inside: a DVD that included all our photos from our 2007 India trip, along with the short videos we took, all labeled with names and places, with Indian music in the background! She did a beautiful job, and it looks like we could've paid a professional to do it. She has blessed us so many times over throughout both adoption processes.
What a gift to have this all in one place, and not on a computer (which I'm always afraid will mysteriously lose these precious memories). She even gave us a second copy, which we will put in our fireproof box for safekeeping. Right away, the boys asked to see the Taj Mahal photos, and the video of our first meeting Anya Rashi.
It is heartwrenching now to see how confused and frightened she was in those first moments -- she definitely knew something was going on, and it was going to involve HER. All she wanted was her bottle and nap, and here were these strangers making a fuss over her! It's amazing to look at her today, in all her joyful, noisy glory, and remember how timid she was.
While we watched the video of those first moments, something interesting happened: Anya Rashi said, "Is that upstairs, Mama?" I asked her to repeat her question, and she said, "Was that upstairs?" She caught me off guard, because I don't think we've ever told her that the baby home she stayed in was on the second floor of the building. (We live in a one-story home, so she likely wasn't talking about our house.) I wonder if some part of her remembers that scary trip down the steps with those pale, funny-looking new people.
After we got home and the kids were all asleep, Peter and I watched the other videos of our first days with Anya Rashi. It made us think about traveling again, to meet another tiny stranger who will become part of our family. We keep wondering if she's born yet, what her birthparents' circumstances are, and if she has any idea that there is a God who is working to bring our lives together . . .
We are still holding steady at #7 on the waiting list. I had a dream last night that there was a sudden burst of activity with new referrals, and we jumped up to #4. I've never had the experience that some people do, where their dreams are prophetic -- but I am hoping there's a first time for everything, and this might be mine!
Whether or not that happens, we are steadfastly praying that we will be surprised with good news about moving closer to our next daughter.
9 comments:
Hoping your dream is gonna bring grea things to light this week for you!! Hoping we get scrutiny this week too.:) Gidget
Love the little glimpse of your meeting with Anya Rashi. I'd love to see the whole video sometime if you are up for sharing it. :) Hoping and praying with you that you get your referral very soon!
Kristi W.
What beautiful and precious memories! I'm hoping your dream comes true and lots of referrals come in. Thank you for sharing!
Liberty
Gosh that brought back memories! What a wonderful experience that can only be truly appreciated by those who have been there. What a thoughtful gift that was.
BTW, if you're worried about losing your precious pictures and videos, you might check out one of the on-line backup companies. The one we use is www.idrive.com . I believe you can try it free for up to 2GB of storage, and after that it's like $5/mo for 150GB. We have literally thousands of pictures (most of them variations of the ones we post on our blog, but just can't bring myself to delete) and hours of video. It backs up overnight, and I can restore to any computer, anywhere in the world. I also have scans of all of Manu's adoption papers saved too.
Nancy,
Anya Rashi looks so emotionally different in this video than the day we met her in Sept. That day she was all smiles. It makes you wonder if witnessing all of her other crib mates leave in a similar fashion....we all bend down and got eye to eye with them, it seems...that when the attention was on her, she knew sort of what was coming.
What a wonderful gift! We are still working on piecing our things together. The albums are done, but our videos are limited and not yet put together. Sharing your story and our recent referral have re-ignited that motivation :)
Julie R
What a beautiful gift that your sister has blessed your family with. I enjoyed watching you both see each other for the first time. I'm with Kristi, I would love to see the whole video, too. Praying that there will be a flurry of referrals coming soon.
April :-)
Nancy,
Please email me as soon as you can.
tlevie62@hotmail.com
Teresa(^Ben's^ mom)
My thoughts were the same as Julie's - Anya Rashi looked so different when we met her. She was full of excitement, and smiles. She had to have known that this time was different.
What an amazing gift to have all of those memories organized and labled in one place!!
Hope your dream is accurate and the activity starts back up again!
Kristy
Wow! That had to be an emotional flashback. It's amazing to see the change in Anya Rashi. What a fabulous gift from your sister! Such a special way to capture your legacy. Love it.
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