Friday, August 17, 2012

Visit From An Old Friend

Okay well perhaps not an “old” friend in the sense that the friend was only 3 years old but the phrase is relative. We were blessed with a visit from our friends Julie and Ella!!!! I know I’ve talked all about them before, but as a recap of who they are; Ella and Yaya were in the same two orphanages together, first in Qianjiang and then again at Chongqing. Although at Chongqing they were separated because Ella went into their foster care program at that orphanage. Julie and I “meet” via a yahoo group for people with kids out of the Qianjiang SWI. I think we met sometime in November 2011, and she and I quickly hit it off and she has become one of my most treasured friends. They only live about 2.5 hours away from us! Ella has shown that she recognizes Yaya from photos. It was Ella who first let us know that Yaya’s nickname was indeed “Yaya”. We wanted Ella to see Yaya before her surgery since Yaya’s appearance will change dramatically.

I was so anxious that Yaya would not be friendly with Ella and it would be a disaster. When we woke up that morning Yaya was not in a good mood and she cried if not with Eric and was not independent at all. I thought it was going to be rough day indeed. When they showed up on our doorstep about 9:45 am, Yaya walked right out onto the porch waving and stood right in front of Ella contemplating her. I don’t think Yaya remembered her but she was not immediately offended by her, which she normally is with other children, especially if they are Asian. They quickly engaged in playing and we had a wonderful day. I think for Yaya the experience was a, “You seem familiar to me, like I think I should know you…but I don’t.” Ella was so precious and every 20-30 minutes or so, she would call out in a high voice, “Yaya!!” One of my favorite times was when she was showing Yaya one of the books Julie made for her with photos of both orphanages in it. She went to a picture of Yaya in a crib in the first orphanage and she would point to it and say, “Yaya!” Then she would point to Yaya and excitedly say, “Yaya!” It was as if she couldn’t believe that Yaya was really live and in person. When they left at 6:00 pm, we didn’t want them to go! Hope waived goodbye as they headed out the door. I followed Julie to her car and a few minutes later Eric walked out with Yaya who was apparently insisting on going out to say goodbye to Ella in the car. So sweet! I was also very glad to hear that for Ella it was also a great day and that she didn’t suffer any ill side effects from our visit. Julie said she was very comfortable in our home and with Yaya as well as Noah and Eden. Makes me so happy!!! It was for me a great day!! I loved loved loved having Julie in my home and being able to see her in person! I can’t wait to get together with them again!

2012-08-13 visit with YaYa (18)2012-08-13 visit with YaYa (20)2012-08-13 visit with YaYa (16)

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