An Essay

This is an essay I wrote recently. More dramatic than you will usually hear from me, but thought I'd share it here...

Almost Astounding

Having just returned home from Ethiopia, the weight of the experience has been heavy at times and at other times, light and just chalk full of all sorts of mixed emotions that boil down to hope, sadness, longing, and love. While we were there, along with meeting our adopted son for the first time, we visited several of the state run orphanages One institution struck me in particular – an older boys orphanage, where boys who have ‘aged out’ of the adoption system reside. There are young boys living there from the age of 14 and up – some smart, full of life and attending school: trying to turn a desperate situation into something positive and some who have lost hope.

Getahun, a young boy who falls into the optimistic category made a special impression on me, right away upon entering the grounds. He was one of two boys (out of 160) who was in the room they call the library, one of the nicer rooms at the facility with aqua blue walls and a few tables and chairs, studying his books – going against the grain of the day and tackling his schoolwork. As soon as we walked in the door, he approached us and greeted us politely. There was a group of about 8-10 of us Americans there invading his space, and he was kind to us all. He was serene and had such a peaceful spirit; it was almost astounding to see here.

As we walked around the campus, we spoke to Getahun about his aspirations, his dreams, and his knowledge of Ethiopia and the small town of Nazareth, where our son was born. What struck me more than his intelligence, mastery of the English language and kindness, was the deepness of his soul. I could feel the depth of his experience, his past in my core and yet it was a light, almost uplifting feeling that prevailed. This is the heavy/light phenomenon I grew familiar with while I was there.

As our trip to visit the boys grew to a close and we had to say goodbye to our new friends, I noticed Getahun’s shirt and I told him that I ‘liked it.’ Well the truth is I had noticed it right away when we met him – it was a bright, vibrant, turquoise color with some beautiful and colorful embroidery work on it. Quite an uplifting shirt for such a potentially dark situation. It looked so nice on him. So I let him know.

My husband I returned from Ethiopia just over a month ago, with our incredible son and a whole lot of change in perspective. So much about this trip blew us away…not the least of which was this orphanage and these boys – their ability to somehow make us feel hopeful as we stare at their stark circumstances. They gave us so much.

And then the most amazingly intense thing happened. A few days ago, a package arrived in the mail addressed to me from an adoptive family that had traveled after us and visited the boys at the same orphanage. It was sent from Getahun. And it was his shirt.

He gave me the shirt off his back, out of nowhere, so unexpected. I have a hard time putting this experience into words. I only know that it was a beautiful, simple and peaceful thing for him to have done – and that it’s not about the shirt. It's about the gift of friendship, the irony and the small worldness of it all. Getahun’s shirt represents his soul: bright and colorful, rich and glorious, passionate and peaceful, magical and light.

Meeting Abe

Noah and Abe met last week - what fun they had. I also got to meet Abe's mom, Lori, and that was a treat as well - since she had met Noah Arone in Ethiopia, for the 3 of them, it was a reunion. She was so good with the kids, since I had the camera in front of my face most of the time, she played with them and asked Abe where Noah's ears, eyes and nose were (smart little guy, he knew!). Noah was obsessed with Abe and everything he did, and most especially his beautiful curly head of hair. I tried to narrow down the photos to a few, but they were all too cute so I gave up. Enjoy!

Been too long...

and still so little time to write...so I'll just share some photos for now of the last few weeks.

Life is swell. One more week with Noah before heading back to work. Going to try to enjoy every moment. And I'll try to share more pictures of that enjoyment and some more stories that I've been wanting to share this week too. So stay tuned!

Some Photos


Oh, AND believe it or not, of all things, Noah learned the "da" syllable this weekend, just in time for Father's Day. Pretty incredible to pick him up from a nap and walk him in to change his diaper on the eve of Father's Day, only to hear him spouting over and over again "da-da" "da-da" "da-da-da-da"...Anil tries to pretend his heart isn't melting because of it, but I can see the goo-goo-goo. Adorable. I've tried to get video but as you can tell from his photos, he's a little camera shy. So also coming soon, I hope. :)

Meet the Parents

Finally, my post about meeting Julie and her family...you know, Julie with the 2 snakes, 3 kittens, 2 fish and 2 bunnies that lives in the purple house and has 3 of the most adorable children I've ever met, the youngest of whom she has already made arrangements for to wed our son. And boy, would he be a lucky dude if that actually happens!!

The first slideshow above shows some candids that were taken with my sister's camera including shots of Marlie and Noah's getting to know you sessions where she would point at him and say 'baby Noah' and near the end of our visit, she was comparing their feet which was ADORABLE. Also in this slideshow are a series of photos of Noah laughing himself silly at Marshall, Julie's husband and a fine man, who had him spinning out of control with drool and giggles, hysterical. And of course the always funny faces of Seamus and Haven, to top things off. Such cool cats, those two.

We had a blast with them as usual and Marshall took some incredible shots of Noah and our family - the guy has got skills. If you haven't seen his photography blog, go now. I've included a slideshow below of a few of the pics he took while we were there; but I'm holding off on several of them because we *may* be using them for a card we're creating at the moment to send to family and friends.

Suffice to say, it was quite a treat for Noah to meet his potential future in-laws and potential future bride. Love was in the air, I know that much.

Noah is 6 months today!

Hard to believe we met him just one month ago today...although at times it feels like we just got back yesterday, we feel like we've known this little guy forever. It's just been nothing short of amazing what we've been through and what we continue to go through every day. I don't want to be one of those moms that claims that everything is peachy and perfect and my kid is peachy and perfect, we have our bad days. But even the bad days are just so awesome because we are parents, and Noah Arone is our son. And that is an unspeakably perfect thing!

Meeting Julie and family coming soon...had to share these things on his 1/2 birthday!

Gladney Caregivers and a few more things on Ethiopia

The caregivers at the Gladney Center really love and care for the children. It's a beautiful and overwhelming thing to see. I've posted here only photos of some of these amazing women with Noah Arone but I have many others of them loving lots of other babies...it's just safer to only post these for now. Anyway, just wanted to share how cool it was to see such love pouring out of these ladies for these kids...many of the caregivers were orphaned themselves as children, so they understand firsthand what it is like for these children and there is something about that that just can't be overlooked - it clearly makes a world of difference when you see the affection and genuine love, compassion and attachment between them. It's a beautiful thing.

Also, I remembered a few other little tidbits of info on Ethiopia to share. First off, Sprite was my best friend while we were there. Whenever I could find it, I would drink it because it helped to settle my ill feelings from the car rides and the diesel smell that overwhelmed me at times. It's not always available at the restaurants but when it is, if you're feeling queezy at all, drink it!

And when you hear an Ethiopian sound like they are gasping for air suddenly, that means 'yes'...this threw me off for a while at first as I wondered why everyone seemed to be surprised all the time, but once I learned that the gasp is their version of 'yea' or 'uhuh', I thought it was so cool, and even started gasping myself in agreement on things. It's literally just a quick and subtle inhale with a slightly audible gasp, so look out for it. Solomon, one of the drivers, does it a lot, I think because he is just so agreeable. I still do it here at home with our little guy and he loves to hear it.

On that note, one thing I wish I had done more of but am glad I did a little of, is pick up some of the sounds and mannerisms of the caregivers at the Gladney Center. I think it has really helped with Noah's adjustment to his new life, to still be able to hear me mimic some of the sounds he was used to hearing - things like the way they say his name and little 'baby talk' phrases you will hear when you are there. Just food for thought...

Happy Memorial Day weekend...stay tuned, my next post is going to be about Noah Arone meeting the Julie and family...with some fun photos too!

Meeting Grandma & Grandpa O

I have been remiss in my postings as of late. As a first-time mom of a very energetic, playful, happy baby, it's been tough to write and share all that I have wanted to as quickly as I'd like to. I still plan to post more on Ethiopia and our time there and hope to share much more info and photos and video as soon as I get the chance. But this post, this post is dedicated to Noah Arone's meeting his wonderful G'ma & G'pa O...my parents! They were technically here before Auntie L and as I said, things may be a bit out of order here for a while.

Nonetheless, G'ma and G'pa O were here just a few days after we arrived back home from Ethiopia. Noah took to them right away and we all had a fantastic time together. My dad hung up a few of the things we brought back from Ethiopia, fixed our front gate, helped prepare a car we are selling and still managed to make "Noah-roni" as he calls him laugh and smile quite often with his silliness. My mom just loved to glide with him and hold him close, and she also helped me organize all of his cute little clothes in his closet. It was so awesome to see them with him. Our first child, their first grandchild, and as you can see, happiness abounds.

Even the ladies working at baggage claim took time to come over and meet Noah. That was super sweet and he loved it. My mom got here just in time for Mother's Day, so we gave her a pretty Grandma locket with Noah and of course, George's photo in it. It was a fantastic Mother's Day, with my mom, as a mom, hangin' with the boys. Nothing but good times.