Friday, December 28, 2012

Part 1: The Day We Met

The day I had been waiting for almost 3 years had arrived, it was Monday morning December 17, 2012.   It seemed so surreal that I was finally going to meet my Sweet Munni!  I woke up feeling great- I think all the sightseeing I did the day before helped me sleep really well because I felt energized and refreshed.  I had breakfast with M., my in-country coordinator and social worker, and we discussed the upcoming events of the day.  I was really starting to get excited and a little bit anxious as I wanted it to get going!
    After breakfast I went up to my room to finish getting ready and to make sure I had everything I wanted to take to the orphanage.  My good friend J tracked me down in my hotel room!  When the phone rang, I thought it was M.  Imagine my surprise when it was J calling me from the USA!!!!  It was so great to talk to her right before I left.  She prayed for me and calmed my nerves :)
     I recorded a video for Munni because as she gets older, I want her to know just HOW MUCH I love her, how long I'd waited for her, and how many people had been praying for us and encouraging me along the way.

     I met M. in the lobby of the hotel.  The hotel manager came up to me and asked me something about Munni; I don't even remember what it was but it was enough to start to the tears flowing!  I think she thought I was going to pass out because she asked me if I wanted water and if I needed to sit down.  I assured her they were happy tears, that I was just completely overwhelmed because I couldn't believe that I was about to finally meet Munni!
     The car arrived and off we went.  The orphanage was about 15 minutes from the hotel.  We pulled in to what looked like a compound.  The offices are up front and then you take a long dirt road back to where the children live.  All along the road there were TONS of dogs just lying in the sun.  We pulled up to the orphanage and got out of the car.  You have to take your shoes off to go inside so there was a big pile of sandals and flip flops.  We walked in and M. started talking to the head lady in Hindi.  I kept looking around wondering where Munni was.  Turned out, she had an exam that day so they sent her to school lol!  They sent someone to go get her so while we waited, M. was able to get the list of questions I had about Munni answered.  My questions surrounded how she came to the orphanage.  It was very difficult to hear the details but I am thankful that my questions were answered as going in, it was a slim to none chance that they would be.  I also wanted to know as much as possible because I feel it will be very important to Munni as she gets older and starts discovering her identity.  I'm glad she was at school because it took me awhile to get myself together after hearing that information.
    Back at the hotel, I gave M. a mini-lesson on how to video on the iPad.  I wanted the moment to be captured forever!  One of the caretakers makes saris so she was showing M. the new fabric she had just bought.  It was beautiful!  Everyone was absorbed in looking at the new fabric when I heard someone say, "Munni."  I turned around and that little peanut was standing there with her HUGE backpack, holding the hand of her caretaker, smiling.  I couldn't believe it!!!  She looked so small!  I quickly handed my ipad to M and ran around the table to Munni.  It all seems like a blur- I was so overcome with joy!!!!!  I was on my knees in front of her and told her how much I loved her and how beautiful she is.  She just smiled at me :)
Somehow, the video didn't get turned on and these are the only two pictures I have of our moment.  Even though they are blurry, I love that you can still see the emotion!!  What's even better is that if you remember when I talked about the due date I had prayed for almost 3 years earlier and December 12 came into my head immediately.  Look at the clock.  It was exactly 12 when we met!!!  I didn't notice this until about 2 days later!  God is so funny :)
I took both of her hands and kissed them.  She giggled :)  Then, I asked if I could hug her and motioned as if I would.  She just smiled so I went for it!  She is so small!!  I stood up and sat on the chair and she sat on my lap.  I pulled out the pink sunglasses I had been saving for her.  She LOVED them!!  She started reciting her numbers in English for me.  She counted all the way to 100.  It was so cute because she was looking at me the whole time and I could tell she was really proud to be able to do that :)  Then I busted out the Gummy Bears.  Huge hit.  Orange is her favorite color.  We sat there for about 10 minutes until the photographer came to take her picture for court and her passport.  For the court picture, I was allowed to hold her.  I can't even put into words how AWESOME it felt to hold her!!!

     After the pictures were taken, her caretaker took her in the back to give her lunch and change her.  M. left to go to the office to see about Munni's file because they couldn't find it.  I was left with non-English speaking people.  I waited about 2 hours until M. returned with bad news.  She said they couldn't get the person to sign off on her file and we would have to wait until about 5 or so.  I was disappointed.  All I wanted to do was get Munni and get out of there to start our time together!  M. and I got in the car and decided we would get lunch and run a few errands to pass the time.  As we were almost to the front of the compound, a beautiful lady on a cell phone waived the driver down.  M. said it was the head lady and she told M. that they got the signature!!!  WOOHOOOO!!!!!  So we went into the office and I wrote a letter stating that I was taking Munni and would return her after the court hearing.  We jumped in the car and headed back to the orphanage.  It took about 5 minutes for the caretaker to bring Munni out.  I couldn't believe it - we were leaving TOGETHER!!!!  She took my hand and we headed to the car.  She sat on my lap and enjoyed looking out the window :)  She didn't get car sick once!  We went to get lunch and start our time together.  I was more in love with her than ever!!


10 comments:

  1. tears of joy reading this. I love every word. beautiful. beautiful. God is good.

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  2. I have quietly followed your journey and i must say im very very happy for both u and munni im writing this at work fighting back some emotion that i cant show right now be blessed be happy and enjoy life .

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  3. Smiling through my tears as I read your entry!!! Lots of love in those words!!! Big, huge hugs to you!!!

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  4. What a thrill to hear about your first moments together -- so happy that God brought you together!
    Nancy

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  5. Oh my goodness, I am so glad you are posting about your time in India. Even though it was on FB, it's so awesome getting the full details. :)

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  6. I am just so happy for you and I think it's really cool that our adoptions are finalizing at the same time!! Praise God!!

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  7. I will never get tired of hearing your story! I love everything about it!!!

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