Astonishing

I think this picture should be an ad for adoption. You know how most adoption family pictures are so posed?  And everyone looks happy – but they kind of need to look happy because the meter’s running on some photographer’s time.  Well, this picture wasn’t posed.  It captured a moment that I needed to remember countless times as my husband and I worked hard to help this little girl grow up to be healthy and happy.

Remember her joy. 

Forget my misgivings.

Remember her enthusiasm – her shout of “Mama!” when she saw me for the first time through the window of the little cabin where she had sat watching a novella with her little 6-year old friends.  Remember how much she wanted a family again – parents and siblings and a house. Forget that my friend Christina had to hold my hand to keep me steady on the walk across the orphanage courtyard, forget that my worries about the future and my ability to be a good mother to a 6, nearly 7-year old with a traumatic past and a serious heart condition were just chewing right through me.

Look at the picture.  And get the message.

Jan Wilberg Janice Wilberg