Rocky's Best Moment

Rocky is our in country facilitator.  I spoke with him the other day and asked him about his best memory of the last trip.  Rocky has been on several trips with us.  He, Gongzhan and I even went as far north as Jamusi, which is pretty much as north as you can go in China.  You throw a rock and you are in Russia.  Rocky is more than a guide.  He is more of a coordinator.  Makes paperwork get to where its supposed to go.  coordinates in country facilitation in other cities and is just a generally great guy.  Rocky is definitely an integral member of the Superkids and Gladney family.

Rocky told me his best moment was when we toured Butterfly house.  There was a little boy there that he met.  Now to tour you need gowns, gloves because we had been in the orphanage with children all day. They don't want these children to pick up anything from other children.  They are medically fragile.   So the team gowned up and so did Rocky.  We went in and in the very first room a boy somehow ended up in Rocky's arms.  He just stood there and held that boy.  He laughed and giggled.  the boy was so happy.  We all went on with our tour except for Rocky.  We saw Butterfly house and came back and rocky was still holding the boy.  Both of them smiling.

Doing what we do changes you and it has truly opened Rocky's heart.  He said it occurred to him at that moment that he knew he wanted to help the children and it was so simple and clear.  He could help so much just by holding them and talking to them.

Erin, Chelsea and I remember this well too.



And By the way, eight more sleeps!!!!

Erin Remembers

Erin writes:

When Pat asked me to share my favorite memory of last year's Superkids I thought it would be easy to decide on one, but I've been mulling over it for a few days and I still can't come up with one favorite.  There are just too many very special, wonderful memories. 

I think one of the sweetest moments was when Pat was working with an older girl who was mentally delayed.  Pat was showing her how to do various things like stand on one foot, jump, etc.  When Pat held both arms straight out, instead of copying her, this sweet girl went straight to Pat and threw her arms around her in a huge hug.  It was so precious! 

Or another time when Pat was trying to get "Penny" to go through the same assessment type of things, Penny did cartwheels instead of merely balancing on one foot.  We all cheered for her and she was absolutely thrilled!

And, of course, I can't share memories without talking about Bea.  Bea and Billy, both six years old at the time, walked into the room holding hands.  As soon as they were in the room Bea broke away and ran up to me and gave me a big hug!  I picked her up and her little arms immediately went around my neck.  My heart just melted!  One of the things I am looking forward to this time is seeing both Billy and Bea again knowing that they have a family eagerly waiting to bring them home!

I could go on and on sharing stories and memories.  Each child is so special, and each one leaves a different, sweet imprint on my heart.

Darla's reflections

When I asked Darla what was her favorite memory of the trip, She shared a special story. We met this boy in one of the last orphanages of our trip.  It was in an orphanage where we saw a large number of children. We were all running around working with the children.  Gongzhan was there talking intently with a very thin boy.  We could see instantly he had stolen Gongzhan's heart.  He was sitting at a table drawing.  Playing quietly with Gongzhan.  We notices them talking quietly.  Gongzhan taking a banana from his snack bag and giving it to the boy.  He was excited and ate the banana.  Gongzhan was telling him he had to get stronger.  to eat more and to exercise.  He was showing him how to use a water bottle as a weight.

When Darla and I got to this boy we discovered he is not able to walk but they take him to school in town every day and pick him up at the end of the day.  He does not have a wheelchair.  They told us he is one of the smartest children in the orphanage.  He, in all likelihood, has some type of muscle issue that accounts for the thinness. We asked Gongzhan about this later and he said. "I told him he must get stronger and we will try to find him a family. "

We both loved how this boys heart touched Gongzhan's heart. Such a bittersweet memory.

Reflections

Yesterday we shared Chelsea's favorite memory.  Today I will share my favorite memory.  I actually have two favorites.  The first is about this little one.  I became aware of OI as a diagnosis for two children at a large orphanage roughly two years ago.  Last year we were successful in getting a file prepared for a child with this special need.  When they brought this girl to me and I held her, that was such a wonderful moment.  Nothing could have made me happier.  To know that this child has a chance at a forever family, made my heart sing.  This year I will be going back with pictures and a gift from that forever family.   That will be a whole choir of singing in my heart.

The second memory is for one of our self advocaters.  She asked each of us to find her a forever family.  She was not restricted by the language barrier.  She found the bulletin board of adopted children and showed us she wanted her picture there too!  This year her family will have their gotcha day right before we get to China.  Yeah!!!!  We are so happy and can't wait.  Pretty awesome although it did not feel so great then and we worried about it the entire trip.  Was there a family for her?  This was such a blessing and miracle that this family found her through our outreach.

Lets all celebrate with these two beauties!!!!

Tomorrow we will talk about Darla's favorite memory and then Erin's.  10 days and counting, oh boy!!!!

favorite memories- last trip

How did this happen?  I woke up this Am and realised 11 more nights and we will be in China.  Wow!  so many things still to check off on the to do list.  Like clothes, travel insurance, phone plan.  Whats waiting on the other side of the world?  Well, so many beautiful memories in the making.  Chelsea and I recently got a chance to catch up on what is waiting.  What our favorite memories from the last trip were.  I am going to share here just a little bit.

Chelsea's favorite memories were of this sweet boy.  Who was walking on his knees.  He is handsome, smiley and just a delight.   He was so special to her because she kept coaxing him to get up but he did not want to with us.  Finally he did. SO beautiful and so sweet.

I will share my favorite memories tomorrow. 11 more sleeps.  Then its China!!  Yeah !!!

14 more sleeps

Yes, 14 more nights at home in our beds before we are on our way to beds in China.  things now are moving at a breakneck pace.  Packages coming in daily, piles of things to pack.  Will we need two suitcases or one? Many many things to get nailed down.

In our heads we are already there.  Eating with chopsticks yummy noodles, dumplings.  Waking up to loud streets, not drinking the water.  Bikes everywhere. Yes we are in China.  The food, the noise and the smells all say we are in China.  All encoded in our memories.  On the other side of the world life is just as busy and crazy as we are here.

What are we looking forward to most, The children.  Seeing sweet little faces that we saw last year.  Smiles, tears and silly face.  Playing taking pictures. Time for extra hugs and squeezes. Rocking precious babies and playing soccer.  High fives and happy smiles. emailing from China, we met your child today.  

We will need several moving vans to get there with all the things we would like to bring. Hang on for the ride 14 more sleeps and we will be waking up in China.  Follow our Journey here and on the AWC blog.link below.  We will be posting different info on each blog so check both.

  asiawaitingchild.wordpress.com

     

Sun, Sea and my Fondest Memories

This weekend I had the honor to attend the Gladney family Association Picnic at the Larchmont yacht club in NY.  It was a perfect day.  The Sky was so Blue and it was cool but not cold.  I arrived early for a special project which i can share more about later.  Set up was almost complete when a an adorable little voice said, "I missed you, Miss Pat"   Then this little beauty ran straight into my arms.  It took my breath away because the first time I met her was in March 2011.   I was so over come at how she has blossomed.  She was barely walking the first time we met.  a few toddling steps.  Now running, jumping and making friends with all the children she meets.  She is so pretty with a beautiful smile.  How we met later changed my life.  Our Superkids trip focused on information for waiting parents was in 2011.  We had been going to China since 2007 to work with caregivers and rehab staff.  To help them learn and facilitate developmental milestones.  To get children in better shape earlier.  Walking and speaking sooner.  In 2011 we refocused because it was important to improve quality of life but the biggest improvement in this is adoption.

This little girl was special.  She was so sweet and just had a gentle spirit. We took some pics. We did a developmental screening.  That is me busily taking notes in the background of this picture.  We collected info all about her and quite a number of other children. We then came back and began to out reach for waiting children.  I spoke with a number of families about this little bug.  Until I spoke to Erin Martin.  Yes friends, that Erin. Our waiting child advocate who at that time was unknown to us.  She listened carefully even though she was on a hike with her family in an area of limited cell phone reception.  I think she knew and I knew, this was her child.  I got to meet this sweetie twice in China.  Once she was barely walking, the second time I went back with photos and a a few goodies, she was walking well.  When Erin went to meet her daughter for gotcha day, she was running and a few days home,  she was turning somersaults.  She was doing so well in development.

One of the best parts of this is Erin and I remained friends.  She began advocating for waiting children and here we are years later, going to China for her second trip and for me number???.  I have lost count.  This little bug is now the daughter of a my dear friend Erin.  A wonderful advocate and support for waiting children in China.

So Sunday was a very specail day for me.  Spending time with this family and my little sweetie.  We never know where a road will lead us but this journey has been so special.