Pictures of Liana Valya

I got a wonderful envelope in the mailbox today from the family that adopted from "our" orphanage a year ago. I had put out a query on a few of the Ukraine adoption boards I belong to asking if anyone had pictures of our kids (after I got a picture of Adam out of the blue from that family a few weeks ago). Anyway, a family sent me a handful of pictures of our Liana!!! She has short hair in the pictures and is sooo serious in all the shots. In one, she even has her hands on her hips. The husband of this couple emailed me and gave me a story about our Liana I will always treasure. Here it is:

Hi, this is Donna's husband Kevin. I just wanted to add a few little stories for you. My girls called her Volla.

The first time I saw her she walked over to me and with both hands on her hips like she was in charge of the place. No smile just a look of "what are you doing in my country"! I got down to her level and put out my arms and she came over to me. I picked her up and held her in front of all the other children and her smile was huge!! She would not let me put them down. She squeezed my neck so hard I had to pull her hands off finger by finger. Every day (it took us 12 days to get our girls) when we visited she was ready to be picked up. After a couple of days I had to be careful because our girls would get very mad if we gave any other children attention. I don't know why but I would always make a point give her hugs every day. I think because she would just be so happy for the moment I could give her. I knew she was a child that was adoptable and hoped she would get a chance. My wife and I talked about "little Vole" and how tough she was but new it was her way of dealing with orphanage life. We are so happy you gave her a chance!!

Do you know how long she was in that orphanage?

Kevin


When I showed Liana the pictures of this family today, she pointed to them and said, "This people loves it me." How very thankful I am for this family's kindness to our daughter. They will always hold a special place in my heart.

Anyway, some of these pictures also included Nadia. You know Nadia, right? The sweetie that I can't get out of my head from our trip? The one that makes me cry every time I think of her still being there?

I sooo hope that there comes a day when someone posts on one of "my" boards asking if anyone has a picture of THEIR daughter Nadia so I can breathe easier for this child and share my pics and fond memories of her with them. When I mentioned Nadia to this family, they also remembered her fondly. Ironically, one of the sweet boys that touched this family's heart was in one of the pictures that we sent THEM. So we kinda got to swap pics of the kids we left our hearts with.

That's the thing about going into an orphange. So many sweethearts just wanting a home. If you love children, an orphanage is a very difficult place to be, even if you are bringing home one or two or three of them.

(Nadia! We're praying for you sweetie! Your very own mama is out there somewhere; I just know it!)