Saturday, July 11, 2009

Future. Love. Paradise.


Liv Tunsitu.

This is Liv Tunsitu. She is a sweet angel, and I got to spend a few hours with her last week. As soon as her mom dropped her off, I plopped her on the couch and asked her what she wanted to do. She slowly turned her head, lifted her hand and waved hello to the 8x1o pictures of M&m that we have on our wall. She had to say hello to them before anything else.

Although it was bright and sunny, I had a hard time getting LT to go outside and enjoy the day. She wanted to get some reading done instead.

Turgenev? Really? Come on LT pick something lighter, it is the summer...

Faulkner? Really? The kid likes the classics. I insisted she pick something lighter...

She told me it was time for an Amharic lesson. She is quite the taskmaster...


"Woosha!"

She made sure Ted's nasal passages were clear, and I finally convinced her to relax in the hammock with me...

We both like bracelets.



We went back inside for tea.


Last week someone said that they thought LT looked a little bit like this man. I didn't really see it until this happened...

Day-O! Day-Ay-Ay-Ay-O!!!


LT came home just over two months ago. She was quiet, and a little bit withdrawn. For the first couple of weeks, I never heard her make a peep. One day, I hopped into her mom's car and heard some exuberant chirping coming from the back seat. LT had found her voice.

Amy, LT's mom, lives five minutes away from me. I wish that I had met her 13 years ago when we first moved here. Amy is a remarkable person. LT seemed just a little bit wounded when she got here. In less than three months, Amy has fully embraced her daughter, and given her the love and encouragement that she so desperately needed.

Amy has not only given LT her voice, she has taught her how to sing...

She has buoyed her spirit, and she has taught the wee LT how to stand on her own two feet, and see herself for who she really is...


a beautiful, resilient, remarkable little girl.


We love you LT, and can't wait for you to meet M&m. They will be so lucky to have you as a neighbor, and as a friend.

12 comments:

  1. love that dress in the final picture- so beautiful!
    ahhh- another book lover :)

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  2. Sweet. Little Liv and M&m will have so much fun together.

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  3. Let me compose myself...What an amazing gift this is and what an amazing gift YOU and YOUR family are. We love you. It's destiny that we live so close. Thanks for being a great friend and a wonderful, kind, smart, generous, loving person.

    Amy & Liv Tunsitu

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  4. We completely heart LT too! She's just magic!

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  5. I'm so honored I got to meet sweet LT and her mom, if only for a bit. I love hearing updates about how she's doing!

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  6. I was just thinking, remember when she would hide from the camera? NOw shes waving her arm in the air and shaking her booty. I love it. and I love that the pup was involved in tea time. and I love that Julie is such an awesome writer.
    BUT (theres always a BUT)
    I hate that Julie won't be babysitting J.L. its just not quite fair.

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  7. Beautiful! I know that Amy fought for this wee little one. She gave me the strength to fight. Julie you are going to be a beautiful creative mom!

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  8. Oh my goodness! I remember when LT came home and someone posted a video. I sat on my desk chair crying and crying and smiling and my fiance was like, "ummm....who is that? and why are you crying?" and I just couldn't vocalize how amazing it was to see a family come home. The joy on Amy's face and the sweetness of LT and how much everyone embraced them both. You all have created a magical community and although I don't have any munchkins of my own and when I do, they will probably not be Ethiopian, I want to play meet all of you at the beach one day just to see these great friendships and smiles of these adorable kiddos. Have a lovely day!

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  9. Holy toledo, those are gorgeous pictures. And gorgeous words.
    Love it.

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  10. You are all amazing... I am so happy for all of you!!! I really hope when we start our adoption and blogging journey that we will meet people 1/10th as generous, kind, sweet and warm-hearted as you all. Isn't it a beautiful thing how the best friendships can form in the most random ways? Who would have thought you both would travel halfway around the world to meet your gorgeous children and yet live so close to each other...

    "Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does." ~William James

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