Ukraine Adoption

Two years, two strangers

On Feb. 7, 2005, we met our little girl in an orphanage in Kyiv, Ukraine. Two years ago today, this tiny two-year-old walked into a small office and saw these two strangers staring at her. I'm not sure whose eyes were wider, hers or ours. She quickly broke into tears and covered her eyes with two loose-fisted hands, a gesture she still does sometimes when she is upset and it always breaks my heart. I wanted to pick her up and hold her, but I knew it would scare her even more. I reached out and touched her arm, she pulled away.

The orphanage doctor gave me a little stuffed animal and I crept closer on my knees and raised it near this little girl's face, she peeked out and looked at it, then at me, like I was crazy. Her clothes were too big on her; her shoes looked too small.

Several days passed with many visits, and little Tara Vika came to know us as family. You can revisit our first meeting; we created a post the next day: Little Girl.

What a great day that was, and how lucky we are today.