Dad and Mom meet Gracie Rose

Aug. 8, 2006: Gotcha Day! This has been a day to remember. John and I left home on Sunday, Aug. 6th at 1:30 pm, flew into Taipei at 8:30 pm Monday, Aug. 7th. It was 10:00 pm as we reached our hotel. The plane ride wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. China Airlines has a tv screen in the head of the seat in front of you with movies on demand. John and I had an extra seat between us. We both got a couple of hours of sleep, although the sun never set the entire 12 hour trip! We were able to get to bed about midnight, after putting together the various gift bags of donations and gifts for the 3 agencies involved with Jia Lings adoption. We were up by 5:00 am, although our wake up call was at coming at 5:30, we couldn't sleep longer. We met Sally, the St. Lucy's Center coordinator at the small airport at 7:40 am. Sally is a delightful woman to be with. She is so helpful and kind. We really enjoyed our day with her. The 40 minute flight went by so quickly as we got to know Sally and her us. She told us on the way that she'd just gotten word that Jia Ling's foster mother WOULD now meet us at St. Lucy's. I was thrilled to have the chance to thank this woman in person.
Arriving at St. Lucy's, we were both a bundle of nerves. We arrived before Jia Ling and Foster Mom. We met Jessica Wu, another wonderful woman who works at St. Lucy's. We opened our suitcases and brought out the many bags of donations that our Church friends in Virginia had helped us gather. St. Lucy's seemed overwhelmed by all that we donated. John and I sat on the couch in the foyer of St. Lucy's to wait for Jia Ling's arrival. We heard a group coming up the stairs and about burst with anticipation.
John say her first and say "Oh, Heather, she IS cute!" Then I saw her and Foster mom. She really is tiny and adorable. Foster mom is an older woman, in fact Jia Ling calls her "grandma." She has brought a 9 year old grandson with her named Kevin. John and Kevin played some and this helped Jia Ling warm up to John. Foster mom immediately brought Jia Ling over to me and tried to get her to go to me and called me "ma-ma." Jia Ling would have nothing to do with me and clug to Foster Mom. My heart jumped with JOY to see Jia Ling soooo attached to Foster Mom. This is a good sign that she has been well cared for and is bonded with this woman and can transfer that bond with time to me! John and backed off and sat and watched Jia Ling play with the social workers who had accompanied her and Foster mom. Jia Ling started to get curious about John and I when I pulled out a small doll and some books from my back pack. She'd take the doll from me then run back to Foster mom, hide behind her and play with the doll. There was some candy on a table at St. Lucy's. It didn't take Jia Ling long to discover it. She would take a peice, take it to Foster Mom to open, but Foster mom was cute and would bring Jia Ling over to me and tell Jia Ling to have "ma-ma" open it for her. Jia Ling let me do this for her. We spent over an hour with Foster mom. Sally helped us communicate and it was a priceless hour. This woman really loves Jia Ling. She has been fostering for 10 years, has 2 grown children, and just got another infant in her home. Her husband is a salesman who travels. He knows English and had written us a note that said, "To Jia Ling's Family, Be kind to her, we will love forever." I started to cry at reading this, which made Foster mom break down too. We cried together for a few moments and then both pulled it together as it was started to upset Jia Ling. Foster Mom had on a necklace with a Cross on it. I told Sally to tell Foster mom that we too were Christians. Sally told her this and Foster mom said that she already knew that we were, in fact she knew that we were Mormon, from our photo's. She said her husband is Mormon, although he hasn't been to the Mormon church in several years. We couldn't believe this and promised Foster Mom to raise Jia Ling to believe in Christ. We are not allowed any further contact with this family, but we are eternally grateful to them and left them with a letter that expresses that to them.
We all ate a Chinese Box Lunch together, we were in awe as Jia Ling went right after all the green vegies and squid in the lunch. (Could this really be OUR child? ha-ha) Then Sally suggested John and I take Jia Ling for a walk in the area for 15 minutes or so, giving Foster Mom a chance to leave St. Lucy's without causing a big sceen. I quietly asked Foster Mom, through Sally, if she'd like a private moment to say goodbye to Jia Ling. She said no, she'd done that already, and just waved bye-bye as we swept Jia Ling into our arms and went out the door. I was holding Jia Ling who was now weeping hysterically! Oh, how our hearts broke for her. We tried to distract her by bying her a treat, showing her animals and toys in store windows, but she just wailed and pointed back to the direction that we'd come from. We walked around the block with her pointing back the entire time, but as soon as we were at St. Lucy's again, she recognized it, pointed inside and wailed even louder. Her Foster Mom was gone, but Jia Ling ran around St. Lucy's foyer looking for her. We gathered up all her belongings. Sally told us that what Jia Ling was saying was "grandma" over and over. I pulled a Hello Kitty sticker book out of our backpack and that seemed to be the ticket! She was still wimpering a bit, but started to pull the stickers off the page and put them on either me or John. We waited for our Cab to go back to the airport with our new daughter, Gracie Rose on my lap. By the time the Cab arrived John and I were covered with Hello Kitty stickers, but Gracie seemed a bit calmer even though she was very stiff and resisted our actual touch or eye contact. Gracie fell asleep in the Cab and stayed asleep till part way through the flight back to Taipei. We were prepared for another crying fit, but she woke up, looked around, and then stared at us with a confussed look on her face. I pulled out a toy barbie cell phone that "talks" when you push the buttons. Again, yes, a Hit! By the time the flight ended I'm sure everyone around us was hating that Barbie Cell Phone. And we are quite sure that Gracie's first English words will be "Hello, I'm Barbie."
Once we were in the Hotel Room she acted like a caged cat for a few minutes. Running around confused and going for the door once she realized that was the way out. We pulled out a few more surprizes of books and toys and she was easily distracted, although not at ease. By bedtime she would let me touch her, but really didn't want much to do with John. She fell asleep very easily, just as her Foster mother said she would.
We are now ending our second day with Gracie. She seems to be doing very well. She has wimpered a few times, but is over all a very happy little girl. She woke up this morning without any fussing. She will not let me out of her sight and John is starting to get a few smiles out of her from a distance. We went to AIT today for Gracie's Visa and then to see our Church's Temple in Taipei. We also went to Taipei 101, the worlds tallest building. (A ride to the top only takes 45 seconds and the view is spectacular!) As we get in and out of Cab's, Gracie reaches for me and clings to me as we've gone around today. She has been fine in the stroller too.
Gracie is smart as can be and very busy. Her Foster Mom had Sally tell us several times that she was sorry for "spoiling" Jia Ling, but we should teach her how to behave. It is obvious that this little girl is used to getting her way and is very strong willed. We are glad she is strong willed as she is becoming a "twin" to our Isaac who is also strong willed. It will be hard at first, but we are confident that the two of them will do great things together.
We enjoyed site seeing today. The people here are very nice, but are missing our kids at home and missing the familiar sites and sounds of home. This week in Taiwan is helping us understand and feel some of what Gracie will feel as we bring her home to the U.S. We are so anxious to go home and take Gracie to meet her siblings and get settled into her new life.