my letter to an orphanage logopedist

Dear _______,

I've been thinking about you ever since I left Eastern Europe with my newly adopted sons in August. I hope that this letter finds you happy and well!

Here are some photos of Zhen and Theodore. You can see that they are healthy and well loved in our family. Zhen is starting to take steps on his own. He will soon be fitted for ankle/foot braces. I expect him to learn to walk very quickly with the extra stability that the braces will provide.

Theodore weighed only 5.5 Kg and became ill shortly after we arrived home. Many tests were conducted at the hospital and we found that he is growth hormone deficient! With a new special diet over the past two months and the medication that he started two weeks ago he now weighs about 7.5 kg. I'm looking forward to his continued improvement.

I want you to know how special you are to me and to all the children who live in your baby house. You are a positive and cheerful force in a dark and hopeless place. I was always happy to see you in my boys' groups because then I knew that with you around, the children would be talked to, played with and encouraged to try new things. When you were present, many of the children who were normally left in their cribs were up and about where they could receive the stimulation that they desperately need.

When you were not around the group playrooms were mostly empty. Sometimes one or two children were in the empty playpen or a tethered walker, but that's all. No toys! On more than a few occasions I had to go searching for a caregiver to return my son after visiting. These children were caged up and left alone in a quiet, empty room.

Thank you for taking a special interest in my boys and for taking photos of us and other adopting families. Thank you for striking up a conversation with me at every opportunity, even though we could not understand each other well! I appreciate the effort that you made in learning to say the name Theodore and teaching the other ladies to say it as well!

I know several families who are headed to your baby house to adopt children in the next few months. I will be sending you some photos prints to share. I would like to know if there are items I can send which would help you to help the children even more. Do you need batteries? Special tools for speech therapy? Let me know and I will see what I can do!

with much love and appreciation,

Stephanie Nance
www.ralphcrew.blogspot.com
www.psalmsixtyeight.blogspot.com