And the beat goes on…

I thought the ride to the airport would be sad, painful, uncomfortable…. Instead, I had three kids singing  “We are the Champions”…

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I chuckle thinking that this was the way Cami was learning English. Champion is a tough word for a girl who has only spoken Spanish! 

Maybe the song was a coincidence or maybe it is Cami’s fight song. That sweet, shy little girl who got off the plane 5 short weeks ago transformed in front of our eyes into a champion.

Maybe the kids understand something I don’t. Cami is a fighter or she would not have been here with us this summer. As shy and nervous as that little girl was on that first day, in these past few weeks, she blossomed into a confident young lady with a purpose.

The Summer Miracles children needed us but we also needed them to remind us that what’s worth having is worth fighting for.

For more information about the children who are still available for adoption go to http://www.kidsave.org.

A Lesson that Cannot be Taught

It was 12:30 am Friday morning and I lay with Cami and GiGi on a twin bed, wiping away tears and providing comfort. Both girls were upset and both new that it had nothing to do with a heated exchange over a Barbie bed. With less than 4 days left of Cami’s visit, both girls were realizing that it was time to say goodbye.

I will never forget when I was twelve, I found out that my Dad had taken a job in Pittsburgh. We lived in California at the time so moving to Pittsburgh, thousands of miles away, seemed unimagineable. The move for me was devastating and I cried for months afterward because I desperately missed my home and friends. It still brings tears to my eyes when I think about it. Because of my own experience, however, I have a small idea of what it might feel like for Cami to leave us on Monday. I at least had my family to support me, but Cami is alone and once she returns to Colombia will not have us there to dry her eyes and give her reassurance. It is unimagineable.

So as I sat on that bed early Friday morning,  I said to Cami (or rather Google Translate helped me to say), “why are you really crying? Is it because you are leaving?” She responded with a nod and more tears and all at once it hit me….. She is not just crying because she is leaving. She is crying because she thinks she is never coming back.

At this point GiGi says between sniffles… “Mommy, I am so sorry, she can have the Barbie bed, she can have all the Barbies.” “Gigi my love,” I said, “she doesn’t want the Barbies. She wants a family.  She wants our family.”

We all knew in our hearts that it would come to this. We knew we would have to say goodbye, but we never knew it would be so hard. We feel helpless and sad but we have hope. I wish Barbie could fix this or make it better but there is nothing she or my daughter can do to take away the pain. There is nothing any of us can do right now to change the fact that Cami must go back. 

We will continue to pray for Cami that she will find peace and that she will have hope. We will also pray that God takes good care of her until we meet again one day. 

What a valuable lesson my daughter is learning about life and faith this summer. She has grown up in many ways. Neither GiGi or Cami will ever be the same because they both learned something that could not be taught.

Build a “que”??

In the words of one of my daughter’s BFFs from school…. “You might want to familiarize yourself with the word ‘que’ in Spanish.” “Why,” I said, “Because you will use it a lot this summer.” Well she nailed it! I not only have used that word, ‘what,’ a ton but so has everyone else in my family including Cami. 

Sometimes though it is the double ‘que, que’ that really gets my attention. It must be so frustrating  trying to figure out what we are saying all of the time compounded with learning and understanding our American culture. For instance, today we attended a birthday party for our little friend Maddie at Build a Bear. I am sure you can imagine how difficult it was for me to explain that we were going to a birthday party for a 4 year old where we are going to make a stuffed bear. 

Thankfully she trusts me and knows that the Longs are always up for an adventure. She and GiGi jumped in the car wearing their party clothes and we headed for the bear party. When we arrived she chose to stuff a bunny (also confusing… A conejo?, si) and we sat back and laughed as she took it all in.

I realized something in those moments in the store… Cami could choose to play it safe and stay back at the house. She could sit back shyly and watch everyone else, but instead she is all in! She has no idea what anyone is saying or what the heck is going on but she doesn’t care. She just jumps in and makes the best of it. In these moments I am blown away. 

She may ask what? what, what? but she never says no. She inspires me to take more risks and to take things less seriously. I think we are learning more than Spanish this summer!

To learn more about Kidsave summer miracles go to: http://www.kidsave.org/programs/orphan-hosting/

Uno, dos, tres…..

These are three words I hear a lot! Every competition, game, and activity begins this way. One, two, three, ready, go! ​

Even at the beach despite the pounding surf, the kids kept right on going… Uno, dos tres…. No backing out… Go…..

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I think this may be the theme of our summer…. One, two, three, ready go….we are all IN! This adventure is a leap of faith. You can prepare and plan but the truth is you really don’t know what to expect. Just like the kids we sort of just went for it and it has been great! A wild ride, an emotional roller coaster but completely worth it.

Everyday has been a new adventure, a new discovery. Everyday has been filled with love and laughter! 

It isn’t always easy but there isn’t much time to think about it. One, two, three and we are on to the next adventure. Maybe we all should be just a little bit more spontaneous and just dive in. Maybe it is as easy as 1, 2, 3!

For more information on Kidsave go to: http://www.kidsave.org/programs/orphan-hosting/

Resiliency!

Not sure what I was thinking when I decided that we should take a week of our summer with Cami and travel to Pittsburgh and North Carolina. While it seemed like a good idea to have Cami meet our family, I did not consider the challenge of motivating three kids through a maze of non-stop activity. I did not consider how it might feel for a little Colombian girl who speaks no English to trust us to keep her safe and protected.

Despite it all we had a blast. We laughed a lot, were late a lot and ate a bunch of junk food because it was just easier! We spoke English, Spanish and Spanglish and taught Pop Pop how to count to ten en español! Nana surprised us all with her kindness and love and taught us that love needs no translation. 
With all of the racing around I was blown away by Cami’s resiliency. In the midst of chaos Cami remained calm, helpful and patient. She never complained or said no. She just came along for the ride. She just blended in with a smile. Sometimes we got a puzzled face and a questioning “que?” but never a bit of resistence.

Maybe we are trying harder than we realize to make her feel comfortable. (GiGi did just say to me in the car “can you PLEASE say it in English too”). Or maybe she is just easy going!

We went into this summer program with the intention of helping an orphan…. Helping someone who is less fortunate than us. We planned for it to be hard and exhausting. Instead, maybe Cami is here to teach us something. Maybe she is teaching us how to be in the moment, to embrace imperfection and to just simply live life. In her simple quiet way of just rolling with the punches, Cami is showing US how to be resilient.

Whose with me?

As we walked around Washington yesterday it occurred to me that people do the same thing I do… They think to themselves “I wonder what the deal is with those people”? Yes I will admit one of my favorite things to do is people watch and make up scenarios about their lives. I guess I am not the only one who wonders about other people. It became clear to me yesterday that people were making a lot of educated guesses about us as well…

One that made us giggle resulted in this photo:

The Kidsave chaperone, Juan Camilo stopped to take a picture of Cami which reminded me I need to be better about taking photos of Cami for her scrapbook. I made Juan pose with GiGi and Cami and all at once I heard a man shouting out…. “Hey Mom, Mom….oh you there Mom…” I turned around and realized he was talking to me. “Yes,” I said. He went on to say “now Mom get into that photo. I know how you feel, always taking the photo and never having a family photo that includes you. Go on and get in there. I will take the photo.” It just seemed too complicated to explain that not only is this not my daughter but it is definitely not my husband. We took the photo and agreed that indeed it was a beautiful “family” photo! Maybe these folks are not my blood relatives but it doesn’t mean that they are not connected to me in a special way through this experience and through the eyes of God.

I am sure we have created a bit of a stir everywhere we go these days but let them wonder and let them ask “what’s your deal” because we have an amazing story to tell. Cami might be one of the bravest little girls in the world taking a great big risk to come to America and find her forever home. I can’t imagine walking in her shoes for even one day and yet she walks or more like runs (or even scooters) full steam ahead. 

Click here for more information on Kidsave and the summer miracles program.

From the Heart…

A lot of people have asked Bill and I…How did you find out about Kidsave? Why are you doing this program?  Won’t it be hard?  We found Kidsave after having had a very heartfelt conversation with a neighbor who told me about the program. This lead me to the Kidsave website where I found out that there are thousands of older children in this world who have no family , no safety net and no hope for the future. My heart literally hurt and the tears flowed for days. How is this possible I wondered? What can we do to help I thought? It was at this moment that I saw the link to the Summer Miracles Program and I found my answer. There was hope, there was help.

When I came to Bill with red eyes and gushed to him about the summer miracles program, he quickly realized that our hearts were big enough and open enough to offer hope to a child with none. We took the plunge and all at once nothing seemed too hard or too insurmountable. With our hearts leading the way we began the journey that lead to Cami.

We prayed like crazy that we would find the path forward and God opened every door that stood in the way. Last night I was reminded of how many other hearts in the Kidsave Community are simply overflowing with love, kindness and compassion. The generosity of spirit that could be felt around the room at the Kidsave Fourth of July event was absolutely uplifting.

The biggest heart in the room last night was that of Juan Camilo. Juan is the chaperone that brought seven beautiful children to the Washington Metro area and has been staying with us for the past 5 days. He loves these children as if they were his own. His patience, dedication and kindness is like nothing I have ever seen. He has not so much as uttered one word of frustration in the time he has spent with us. He goes with the flow, steps in where he can to help out and has only the best interest of these children at heart. He in a word is amazing.

Juan leaves us tomorrow to stay with another host family. We will miss him terribly but know he must be allowed to help each of the children equally.

Cami also has a huge heart. She has taken a leap of faith to come here to stay with our family and that says a lot. We are pretty loco as she likes to say! She is teaching us to be open to God’s plan for us and to love more fully. We are a work in progress but are letting our hearts lead the way.

A Birthday Party American Style

Yesterday was a big day for us as we set out to celebrate Maria Camila’s birthday here in Virginia. She turned 12 on May 30th and in the letter we sent to her preparing her for her visit, we told her we would like to celebrate together when she arrived.

After church GiGi thought it would be fun to have Manis and Pedis at the nail salon. It was Cami’s first “manicura” and she was thrilled. She has been very embarrassed by her feet and with a little pampering that all changed. The result was beautiful 4th of July themed, French manicured fingers and toes!!

After that we prepared for the birthday celebration with a few friends. We had a traditional American BBQ and found out that Cami doesn’t actually like hamburgers and hot dogs. Who would have guessed 😀.

She had a wonderful time hanging out with the kids and playing games on the trampoline. The pinnacle of the evening was cake and presents. She was the center of attention and we think she felt like a princess.

Uno, Dos, Tres…

And what would a birthday party be like if we didn’t have a few late night silly photos to add to the mix. 

By the way, Juan Camilo, travelled here with the children as their chaperone. I can’t say enough amazing things about him. We were so blessed to have him here with us for a few days as well!

We have had so much fun seeing life through a new lens! 

Nails, Art and a Little Swimming

Day 3 and things are getting more relaxed. The kids are learning to communicate in a combination of Spanish, English and sign language. Shocking how successful they have been at understanding one another.

Cami is very attached to her chaperone, Juan Camilo (who is amazing by the way) so Bill and I are still working on bonding. While there is a language barrier it is amazing what progress can be made with smiles and hugs. 

We had a fun day at the bay and I had a great time spending some time alone with GiGi and Cami. We definitely got a lot of funny looks when the girls rolled out in their matching swim suits. Too cute!

Even Mitzi had a great day! Looking forward to much more fun and lot’s more time for bonding. Thanks for the prayers and support. Keep it coming!!

Target through the eyes of a 12 year old Colombian girl

Where does one go on their first visit to America you ask? Target of  course. Because of a generous gift from a friend (a Target “tarjeta”), Cami had the time of her life!

Cami enjoying Target!

While there is a bit of a language barrier (my Spanish is weak at best and Cami speaks no English) that did not stop us. Shopping is the same in any language. I have never seen a girl so excited to select a few items. She spent 20 minutes sitting on the floor in the Barbie aisle trying to figure out how to spend her gift card.

On the way to lunch I looked in the back seat of the car to find that Cami was fast asleep. That’s a girl!