you are with us…

Dear Treisita,

Yesterday was much harder and much more amazing than we could have ever imagined.

We were warned by many people not to expect you to run into our arms and be as excited as we are about this transition. We had other well meaning people tell us we were different and somehow would be exempt from a hard transition. In a sense both were right. It was a difficult transition as you said good bye to hermana, the sister that raised you for 3+ years. We could also tell it was hard for her as well. You cried hard and I mean body heaving, gasping for air, inconsolably hard for about 20 minutes when we left the office and started for home. But then you fell asleep in your mama’s arms (thanks to a sucker from our driver and a very patient, resilient mom who would not let you go. When you woke up you were in my arms. We transitioned you during the meal when you fell asleep. You never left my arms from that time until we arrived at Bogota 2 hours later. It was among the best and most memorable moments of my life and I will cherish those 2 hours forever. When you woke we ate some chicken, I read you some books, you started to talk tentatively. I had no idea what you were saying (you were talking very quietly and in Spanish words I had not yet learned i.e. most of them) but I affirmed everything as if you were reciting the most startling poetry. To me it was. I could literally feel us bonding and adjusting to each other as the moments passed. I would ask you simple questions and you would answer with a nod of the head or a couple words and the whole time you would look at me out of the corner of your eye but as soon as I looked at you, you would look away. I think you were trying to figure out if I was in fact, the gringo papa you knew would one day come. By the way, you had been telling people long before we even heard of you or started this process that you would one day have a big family with aunts, uncles, grandparents and gringo parents with a big house. When we surfaced, even Hermana was surprised how well we fit the descriptions you used to give. It was almost as if you knew before anyone else. We’ll be watching to see if God is giving you some kind of prophetic gift or if this was just his way of encouraging hope in you. Either way we’re all amazed.

While I’m on that topic, here’s a couple other things the sister said. First she told us you are a leader. She said that all the little kids in the orphanage would follow you around and look to you for cues on how to behave and what to do. Even more importantly you were a caring leader and would always ask for extra of anything you were given and then give it away to the other kids. You always wanted to make sure everyone had enough.

So like i said in a way both those who warned us and those who encouraged us were right. It was a hard transition but in the scheme of things very short-lived. When we got back to the hotel you played and giggled and just grafted into the family like you had always been a part of it. It seemed so natural and right after the ride home. You even started calling me papa and your mom, mama and your siblings “mi hermanos” before dinner. We could not be any happier.

And not it is the morning of your second day with us and you are starting to stir so I’m not about to sit in front of this computer and miss a thing you do or say so I’ll write more later…

much love from su papa!

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