Adoption 22-23 continued. Right before Sadie came to us her first adoptive family had just gotten back from China with a 11 year old little girl with Spina Bifida . Several times when giving them a report on how Sadie was doing in our home we would share with them some different things about Spina Bifida given the fact we were experienced in that disability. Almost a year and a half went by and we were getting ready to finalize Sadies adoption when I received a call from her first family asking If we would consider adopting their other daughter. She was 12 almost 13, her medical problems were severe. She had spent all summer in the hospital with a infection from a botched surgery that was performed in China. Grace as we called her, is a beautiful , smart,witty,girl whose sense of humor kept us laughing. We called her our comic relief, she loves to sing opera and keeps us all entertained. Grace had never been to school in China, She was home schooled the first year she was in America. She was placed in the sixth grade in our local school, within the year she was making all As and Bs and plays flute in the band. She is like a sponge ,soaking up all she can learn. Grace has shared much of her life in the orphanage with me. Although there were some good times, because of her outgoing personality she was one of the orphans who performed to raise awareness and funds for the orphanage. The discipline used in the orphanage in our culture would be considered harsh, she has shared storys of food being withheld , locked in rooms all day,and made to wash all the diapers in one wash pan with bleach. But Graces has a wonderful way of laughing through adversity. When Grace first came to us she appeared to me as ageless sometimes older and sometimes younger than her age. Instead of the signs of reactive attachment disorder we were told she had, all I saw was a child needing so badly to be loved and wanting to please. You could not hug her tight enough. Grace has brought a new dimension to my life, I had never experienced the frustrations and hurts one has when independent in a wheelchair, most of our other children who use wheelchairs have caregivers with them to help them. The obstacles she has to face daily sometimes as a mother break my heart but Grace will just smile and make a joke out of it. Medically Graces scoliosis is complex, we have postponed having a major surgery to correct it due to being told it could be very dangerous . We are still considering the risks to the benefits. Graces Spina Bifida is a T-8 basically it means she is paralyzed from the waist down. But that does not stop her from accomplishing any task she sets out to do. We adopted the girls together I let them pick their own names , Sadie kept her name but added Lili which is Lilly in Chinese and Grace picked Maliya Grace .But to me she is my Amazing Grace.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 02:13:00 +0000
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