Tim's Observation on the Orphanage Visit

China Time: 4:30 PM Thursday

First of all, my stress has been at "Dev Con 5", "Red Alert", "Houston We Have a Problem" levels, ever since we left JFK six days ago. This morning, trying to make the decision of whether Annie should return to the orphanage for one last visit, sent me to a whole new level. Being the gambler that I am, this was one bet I wanted to stay away from completely. I felt the over/under on this one made no sense. We made it through a tough first day of emotions and everyday since, things have been getting more and more comfortable. Why would we want to risk this and go back to square one?.......I was going with my gut........Kim of course did a little more due diligence........after e-mailing a social worker we had consulted with before we left the states and of course an e-mail to great friend Dr. Geller,...... Kim's feeling was that we needed to make the trip with Annie and let her say her final good-byes and also to let her caregivers tell her it was OK and for them to say goodbye........after much trepidation, I gave in to Kim's motherly instinct.
Annie was definitely going through some emotions when we got to the orphanage. she became very quiet and was not quite sure what was going on. We met the caregiver who spent the most time with Annie and she was a wonderful woman. You could tell she loved her very much. Although Annie let her hold her and kiss her, she never took her eyes off Kim for very long. It was at this point that Kim asked the caregiver to speak to Annie and let her know she was going with a loving family and everything was going to be alright. Pictures were hard to take through the tears as this took place..........The telling moment of it all was when we started to go back down the walkway and the caregiver reached for Annie's hand,..... Annie pulled back and grabbed Kim's hand instead......the torch had been passed.....
We then headed to Annie's classroom where all her friends were. She ran into the room. She immediately went to her two best friends and all the kids gathered around. It was such an emotional moment to be surrounded by these beautiful children who were just loving the affection we would give them. They would squeeze your leg, hug you around the neck and just smile and talk to you. I pray they can all find a loving home someday.......At one point, one of Annie's best friends starting talking to her in Mandarin and I heard the word "mama". I asked our guide who was next to me, what she said. Our guide said she was asking Annie if Kim was her mother. These kids really know what's going on. After a while we had to leave and all of her friends said goodbye. .....When we went back downstairs to the entrance to say our final goodbyes to the Asst. Director, it was then that Annie started playing with Molly and really started to relax,...... and knew she was still with us..........Lucky us.

I am so glad we made this trip to the orphanage, it was absolutely the right decision. To see the love of the caregivers and teachers, to meet her friends, and for her to hear and see everything was going to be OK was something that needed to be done. Thank you Kim for convincing me.