MyLove.....

When we decided to adopt from Ethiopia I wanted to do something for the children in the orphanages. I decided to ask family and friends for donation to buy some shoes to take with us on the day we go to adopt our child. Now all of you know that dream of adopting from Ethiopia has taken a turn and had no idea what we were going to do with all those shoes.

Then TJ came home one day from work telling me that one of his staff members were going to be taking a leave from work to work in Haiti to help the people after the devastating Earthquake that had happened. This is what she wrote to us in an email after taking the shoes to much needed orphans.

Hi TJ,

Haiti was a very hard trip. For our two week duration we laughed, cried and created memories with the children of the orphanage. Learning their stories was absolutely heartbreaking; their tiny and frail AIDS-ridden bodies don't stand a chance in this complex world.

But the shoes. The shoes were truly a gift that were not only given to the children but also to me. We waited until our second week to distribute the shoes and I'm glad that we did. The kids were excited beyond excited when they realized what we had for them. The most heartwarming part, though, was a little girl named Mylove.

Mylove is 1.5 years old and lost both her mother and father to AIDS. She was under the care of her uncle when he put her in the care of the orphanage as he could no longer afford her upkeep. Her uncle visits her but his visitations are becoming less and less frequent. Mylove is a very quiet and secluded child who seems scared of a lot of things. While we were at the orphanage she kept to herself and often sat in the corner by herself watching others play. She never smiled, never talked.

When we were giving out the shoes I watched her as her interest was captured. She was curious about what we had and seemed to want to engage. So I called to her as I had done many times on the trip but this time she responded. A smile crept across her face as I slipped a pair of tiny pink shoes on her feet. She stood up from my lap where she was sitting, stomped her feet on the ground, and started to dance.

This child who had not moved from the corner, had not smiled and had not interacted with others started to dance. She danced and danced and danced with the biggest smile you could imagine; at that moment I realized just how amazing this gift was.

You gave a little girl her dancing shoes, you gave her confidence. You gave me a memory I will cherish forever and a reason to continue with this difficult work.

Thanks to you and Kelly for this.

Peace and blessings,
Rhonda.