Three Lines

It seems like a lot changed in the five years between the adoptions of my girls. Lia is from Baoji, Shaanxi Province...smack dab in the middle of China. Baoji, the city where she was found, has a military base (so I've heard)...and they don't allow many visitors (although it seems they are getting better about that)...at least we were not granted permission to visit in 2006...a huge regret for us. We hope to go back one day to see where she spent her first year of life.

We WERE granted permission to visit Jillian's orphanage last November...and didn't have to travel far to do it. Just about twenty minutes outside of Guangzhou, it was an easy trip at that. The director herself conducted the tour...and although I felt they were trying very hard to present a great impression, I WAS impressed with the classrooms, the workers who clucked over Jillian and even gave her a snack as they fed the other children. I wrote, somewhat non-coherently, about the visit and the emotions of that day here.

I would like to go back and make spelling corrections, etc...but have decided to leave my China posts stand as they are...typed hurriedly in the dark of a hotel room as my daughters slept...and I should have been.

Before we left the orphanage that day, Jim asked the director if she had an e-mail address. To be honest...it had never crossed my mind. I was even more excited when she said she did (seriously...SO different from our first adoption clouded in so much secrecy it seemed). I sent her some photos of Jillian a few days ago...and this morning I woke up to a response...short...but oh so sweet.

THANK YOU SO MUCH . SHE IS VERY BEAUTIFUL NOW. WARM WELCOME FOR COME BACK CHINA.

Seriously good stuff. I hope we can take her up on that warm welcome some day...