Today we went as usual to see N at the orphanage. When we got there, we headed up to his group room but were met outside by one of the cleaning ladies. With some talking and pointing, she communicated that his group was outside the orphanage grounds walking. As we were planning our next move, we looked up and saw N and his group coming through the gate. He saw us and he was thrilled. He ran to us yelling "momma" and "poppa" over and over. His group went inside and we stayed out on the playground to play. Things were pretty normal at the beginning. We gave him the new soccer ball and he was enjoying kicking it around. At one point while he was running after the ball, he tripped over his own feet and did a pretty good face plant right into a tree root. In the process, he got a bad scrape on his hand. I felt so bad for him. He's had a scraped place on that hand that has just now really healed, and he opened up a pretty good little place right back in the same spot. Denise and I rushed to him, and she used a we wipe to clean it up, but we knew we needed to get someone to look at it since we didn't have any first-aid supplies with us. We took him back to his group, and one of the caregivers took him and washed it out. She then came by and told us she was taking him to the doctor. We followed them down to the doctor's office, and Denise went in with them. The doctor cleaned it up and put some blue stuff on it (it looked a little like Merthiolate) When they came out of the doctor's room, the caregiver looked at us and said in broken English, "he wants to go back to group...tomorrow." And, she smiled and off they went.
Boy, that episode was a stiff little reminder of how far we have yet to go. When he was hurt, he wanted the familiar security of his caregivers and his group not his momma and his poppa. Wow! If I were writing a fairly tale, I really would have planned a different scene. But, this isn't a fairy tale. It's real life. I wanted to badly to help him. To comfort him, but I can barely communicate with him. It's a bummer. I know it will get better in time. I know there will be lots of scrapes and bruises to nurse and make over in the future. It's going to be o.k. God has put us on a path, and we are certain of it. Today was just a little glimpse of how the process of building a relationship is going to go. I know the urgency of learning English will be greater when we get him away from the orphanage. I am just praying for us to be able to continue to bond. Tomorrow is a new day, and I hope a wound-free day :)!
Hope you all have a great Monday!
BTW, I hope you all have recognized that it is now Monday, and I have showed great restraint in not mentioning the Memphis-USM game until now. Oops, I just mentioned it...nuff said!! ;)
Blessings,
Rick
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