Lilit & Ella

For the first six years of her life, Ella lived in an orphanage in Gyumri, Armenia.  Her best friend, also born with skeletal differences, was with her for that entire span minus a few weeks at the end.  They shared side by side cribs and both tell me that they'd whisper to each other when they couldn't sleep and held hands through the bars when they were afraid. On the day of their separation when Ella knew already that she'd be joining our family shortly and Lilit was being transferred to an older child facility, the girls hid in the bathroom together, crying and hugging, hoping they wouldn't be found and ripped apart. Losing Lilit was traumatic for Ella and she struggled with something akin to survivor's guilt for about three years until we learned that Lilit, too, would be adopted.  With this news, Ella was able to move on more freely and confidently with the new path before her.

Their former cribs beneath the window

Little girls in Gyumri

It's been five years since the girls lived together and in this time their experiences have deviated widely.  Therefore, while some common ground remains, they each also have changed significantly.  Earlier this month Lilit and Ella reunited for a long weekend and I was happy to see that despite the years of separation, they still held a fondness for one another and were able to create a certain level of new closeness quickly.  Their relationship won't and maybe never should be again what it was during their traumatic years in Gyumri, but I hope that they will stay connected and support each other throughout their lives as there is no one else in the world that shared with them what they experienced together, no one who can understand or remember in the same way.

Definite preteens in the USA