This morning began with us waking early to the mosque shooting off a canon -
or something of the sort - to declare that church was beginning. Even this early in
the morning you can see the streets crowded with men and women dressed in
traditional attire.
Today is a hard day for a few reasons. First it is hard because we will not get to see you today. We enjoy so much seeing your smiling face and hearing you laugh...even more so, holding you in our arms. But today is also hard because we will meet your birth father to talk with him about you. We will travel to Durame, the city near the area where your family is. Durame is about a six hour drive from here. We am sure we will have a lot to tell you about this journey.....
As we traveled south, we began to see the beautiful country of Ethiopia. There are rolling hills covered in lush grasses. There are mountains that are so high they bring us memories of Wyoming. This country is stunning, and even though our eyes were heavy with sleep we kept watching so we wouldn't miss a single part of this trip. Finally, there are people - so many people - walking everywhere - gathering in fields to celebrate the end of Ramadan.
We had a beautiful, emotionally and life changing meeting with your birth father. We will forever treasure this moment with him and will hold dear to our hearts the many things he shared with us. You are so loved M. so loved, and we are so humbled that we get to be a part of this beautiful love felt for you.
After the meeting we traveled to the first care center where you stayed. We kept thinking of you and how you must have felt first coming here. We also felt extreme gratitude because this is the place where you began to grow stronger and healthier. But there are so many children. Oh the children.....
There is a little boy named Simeon and he was only 10 months old. He was just the size of a newborn infant, but he had a smile so big. As he grasped your mommy's hand we poured our prayers over him for strength and a family that can be blessed by that beautiful smile.
While touring the care center, we visited with a gentleman who knew you well. He said that he remembered you - and liking you because you were so handsome and dynamic. He also thought that you were so smart because you were so strong in spirit and so active. Sister Abebech Abura also shared with us her memories of you. She said that you arrived so ill and fragile, so so fragile. But it didn't take you long to start growing stronger. With your strength came your activity and she felt that you slowly grew happy again.
Also of this makes us long to get back to you....."
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