One year ago today, I picked up Emilia from her orphanage to join our family forever. I wish I could make a beautiful slide show of that day with videos and photos like I did for Rex. Sadly, there are only a handful of pictures and not a single video.
Nonetheless, I remember the day well. I was picked up from our apartment in Sofia at 6:00 am and directed to take my seat on the back bench of a van. The middle row had already been claimed by an Italian couple on their way to meet their son. Craig and Rex stayed behind because we did not think that it was a good idea to subject Rex to 14 hours on the road.
We headed east as dawn slowly broke. I was still jet-lagged and tried to sleep, stretched across the bench, but I could feel every bump in the road as we drove through the mountains. I skipped the first pit stop for breakfast, but decided to get out of the van at the second stop. I walked into the gas station to use the restroom, but was so disoriented that I actually bumped into a table. Our translator caught me or I might have fallen.
We pushed on and finally I began to recognize where I was. We had been driving for over six hours and I knew that Dobrich was not far now. While we passed small villages that I had seen in spring glory during our first trip to Bulgaria, it began to snow, a wet, icy snow accompanied by a biting wind. The fields were dusted quickly.
When we reached Dobrich, we first dropped off the Italian couple at their hotel, the same place we had stayed seven months earlier. I remembered everything: the beautiful park, the restaurants, the way to the orphanage. Finally it was time to see Emilia again. When we arrived at the children's home, we were told that Emilia was napping. Since our driver needed to head out and pick up our food donation from a large club store, I told the caregivers to let her sleep. I sat and waited in the same small, stuffy room that had been the place of our daily visits in the spring. I am notorious for not wearing a watch, so I have no idea how much time passed, but after a while I was asked to meet with the doctor and social worker in an office. There they went over Emilia's medical with me again and answered a few questions that I had.
When I returned to the visitation room, Emilia was up and dressed in the outfit I had brought for her. I was taken by surprise, I was not ready. Emilia had learned to walk and when she saw me, she walked into my arms, smiling. My breath was taken away by how beautiful she looked. After a few minutes of marveling at my new daughter, I asked if her caregivers could gather for a photo. Here's one of only three or four that were taken:
This is Emilia with the orphanage social worker:
Much of these minutes at the orphanage are a blur to me. I handed out gifts to the caretakers and tried to pose for some photos. I asked a few questions and one caregiver told me in English, "She's a nice one." Our driver had my camera, but I think he was in a big hurry to get back on the road to make the long drive to Sofia. Dark would fall again soon, so he rushed our departure. I remember bundling Emilia into her coat and hat and carrying her into the frosty, wet afternoon. She was so light and so frail in my arms and I wanted a photo in front of the orphanage as we left, but our driver was already at the car and ready to go.
On the way home we made just one stop for gas and I changed Emilia's diaper on top of a toilet in a frigid gas station bathroom. She sat on my lap in the van and slept for a few hours early in the drive. When she woke up, I offered her a drink and she took some. I also fed her some puree... no car seat to hold her while I was doing it. Night fell when we were heading through the mountains again. There were lights here and there from oncoming cars or villages and Emilia was fascinated by them. She sat in the seat and looked straight out of the front of the car. Suddenly, our driver had to break without warning and Emilia was thrown like a doll from the seat and flew forward. I picked her up as fast as I could. She didn't cry or shed a single tear. I think she was just in shock throughout the entire ride. She was quiet as a mouse and outwardly calm as could be.
We arrived back in Sofia around 8:30 pm. I couldn't wait for Craig to see his daughter again and introduce Rex to his sister.
Here are a few photos from that evening at the apartment. I think Craig and I were simply too exhausted to remember to take any videos. I had been traveling for 14 hours and Craig had nursed Rex through one of his famous one day bugs. Neither of us was functioning at full capacity.
Some day I think I will have to apologize to Emilia for the poor documentation of this momentous day. I hope she will understand why things were so topsy-turvy and know that our Together Forever Day was no indication of our ability or dedication as her parents in the years to come.
