The train travels at around 300 km/hour which is 186 miles/hour!
We arrived at the Hengyang south train station, and were met by the Assistant Director Mr. Liu again. He was happy to see Ava, and wondered how she had been doing. We told him she was great!!! We then drove to Ava's finding spot.
I'm not going to post publicly pictures of Ava's finding spot. To me, it is a sacred spot that is her's alone. We did find out some new information while we were there. Mr. Liu told us that she was placed there very late in the night/early in the morning. Who ever left her, wanted her to be quickly found. We also already knew that she had been left with some money and baby formula. She was loved, and was placed there so that she could get the care she needed.
Ava's finding spot and the orphanage are on the outskirts of town, and are considered rural. The long road to the orphanage is very pretty; surrounded by lots of vegation, trees and high brick wall. The orphanage sits at the end of this road.
This building below is the original SWI building. It now houses offices. The original entrance is on the left and is hidden by the trees. We walked up the new driveway to the new entrance.
New entrance and newer building on the right.
This picture below is taken looking out from the new orphanage gates. You can see how rural and peaceful it is.
Ava needed a diaper change, so we headed upstairs to a conference room. Soon the Orphanage Director Miss Jiang and Ava's favorite ICC worker, Cherry arrived. We visited with them for a bit, and I was overcome emotionally seeing Ava with them. It was so apparent that they loved her, and that she loved them back!
While we were in the conference room, Mr. Liu let us look at Ava's original file from when she came to the SWI. He allowed me to take a picture of her footprint from when she was a newborn.
We then headed outside and over to the ICC offices and the building where Ava lived for the past 15 months.
As we walked we saw one of Ava's nannies arriving back to the SWI with two of Ava's friends. They were excited to see her!
The ICC poster outside of the ICC offices.
Ava lead the way...she knew exactly where to go to get upstairs to her room!
Unfortunately, Mr. Liu would not allow me to take pictures in her room. I so wish he would have let me take a few just to have for her. We will have to rely on our memories of the room and share them with her. He did let me take one of the hallway. This is the same hallway we saw in some of the pictures we received of her while we waited.
Ava lived in baby room #4 along with 7 other children. There were at least 5 nannies assigned to her room. Ava did really well with the visit, and just lit up when she saw all her friends and nannies. She was giving everyone hugs and kisses.
I wish we could have stayed for hours. There was so much to take in. They fed Ava some lunch there because she saw the food and wanted some! We spent most of the time in the playroom which was small. We watched Ava interact with all the other children, and dance when they turned on the music. They had hung up lots of pictures of the children in the room. So we saw some pictures of Ava we hadn't seen before. The nannies also gave us a stack of pictures for us to keep. Towards the end of our visit, I did get a chance to ask a few questions about her diet and daily habits.
We then left the playroom, and went to the next room where the baby room #4 children slept. We learned that Ava slept in a pack-n-play. This explained to us why she is always swinging her legs when she goes to sleep. I bet she liked to rub her legs up and down the sides of the pack-n-play for entertainment. I can remember the boys doing the same thing when ever they slept in a pack-n-play.
All too soon, it was time to go. We did get to meet Allison, the ICC therapist, and she was wonderful and so helpful. As we were preparing to leave the building, Ava did wave goodbye to us. I think she thought she was staying and we were leaving. Allison quickly help get her back in our arms for snuggles and understanding that she was going with us!
Mr. Liu took us all out to lunch at an amazing restaurant. Wish I would have gotten pictures of our lunch. We had the most amazing bean curd noodles...they were delicious. Jeremy loved the beef dish, but it was too spicy for me! Ava slept through most of lunch, but then woke up to eat. She ate again, and loved the watermelon that was served for dessert.
At the start of the day, I was nervous about the visit. Ava was doing so well with us. Would going back upset her? Would it set us back in attachment? Would it give her closure and help her move forward? Should we allow others to hold her or keep her close to us? I knew that she was one loved and favorite girl, so I knew we couldn't possibly keep her to ourselves. I'm glad that she got one last cuddle with the people she loved. I'm glad that they got to met us, and see who her parents were. I'm so thankful to have met the nannies, and experience their love, affection and devotion. I'm glad I got to see where Ava lived the past 15 months. The images of her first home will always be seared in my head, and I want them to be. I need to be able to tell her about her first home in the future. This is where the first chapter of her life was written, but we get be with her as she writes the rest of her story. What a privilege that we get to be her family!!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Beautifully written, thank you for,sharing. I can only begin to imagine all the emotions of the day! So thankful she was one very loved and cherished baby girl.
ReplyDelete