Friday, October 9, 2009

Pause, Fast-Forward.

I lie in bed with her as she falls asleep. She is in her brown, fleece, footie pajamas, the ones with the pink polka dots. Her hair is in puffs, our second attempt. She is tired. We talk about our plans for tomorrow. I tell her her daddy will be home when she wakes up. Presently he is still at work, late on a Friday night.

"When we wake up," I say, "we will have breakfast, pancakes maybe."

"Mommy, I like that. I like pancakes."

I know she does. I tell her that after breakfast mommy, daddy, Meazi and Melese will go to her school to plant trees. She says, "Planting, planting, all over planting." I tell her in the afternoon we will come home and carve pumpkins. She wants to carve the witch stencil she saw on the carving tools packet.

I so much want to freeze her at this moment. I want to press pause, but I also want to press fast-forward. I want to keep her here with me, this size, this age, this girl-my daughter, but I also want to move forward, forward to a day when her belly is no longer distended from the persistent parasites that won't seem to die. I want to fast-forward to a time when she really, really, understands that we will always love her no matter what she does. I want to fast-forward to a time when she doesn't have to tantrum, and to test. I want to fast-forward to a time when her self-esteem is elevated, and to a time when she understands that the events that have unfolded in her life are not her fault.

I want to fast forward to a time when she feels secure.

I want her to know that although this is her fifth stop, this is indeed her last stop. She will not have to go anywhere else.

No matter what.


40 comments:

  1. okay. that made me cry. you are the perfect parents to M&M. Wishing you well.

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  2. Julie, this is so very beautiful. I love that she found you, and you her.

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  3. beautiful! i love that you are embracing the moment while looking forward with hope to what the future will be. such love you have. such bright futures for you all. as family.

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  4. This is such a beautiful post Julie. I have tears reading this...they are words of a true Mommy!!

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  5. Oh Julie. I am speechless. Beautiful, heartfelt post. Hugs to you and your beautiful family. Meazi is an amazing little girl, with a giant heart, and so is her mama, a match made in heaven.

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  6. Sweet Julie
    She will soon be FULL of Ethiopian "leadership"...I have no doubt.

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  7. Beautiful post, Julie. Thank you.

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  8. I watch you and learn much. I love you and yours.

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  9. I feel you so much mama. We want so much for them. Have you seen "Away We Go?" I am jealous that she will let you do her hair.

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  10. Your words seem calm, strong, Julie. I know that there is no softer place that your two children could have landed, but still they have to get through their own stuff to the other side of trust and believing. She has you to go through this period with and to me, IMHO, this is a moment of grace in which all the small decisions, all the little moments of patience, affection, love, understanding = her peace of mind and heart. She's just in the right spot to get there, equal measures of what she needs.

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  11. Julie, a moment of intense love you have for her is packaged up here so exquisitely with your words...wow. Makes me take a breath. She is a gorgeous little bean with her puffs and her almond eyes and you are beautiful as her Mother.


    Cindy

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  12. Hi Julie. It's Bethany in MDR. Just wanted to let you know I've started a new blog in addition to Positively Orphaned. http://lifeonplanetearth.wordpress.com/
    We're in England until March. Still looking forward to meeting you and going out for Ethiopian food.

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  13. This was the first thing I read this morning and I'll be okay not to read anything else for the day. Trying to type through the salty tears to tell you how beautiful your post was and just how happy I am that M is with you.

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  14. Thanks Julie for once again speaking elegantly what is in the hearts of so many adoptive mothers.

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  15. lovely julie. hugs for you. parenthood is the constant desire for pause/fast forward.

    all of it is important and helps.

    even the planting of trees and the making of pancakes and the dad working late and the tantrums. but oh, 5 places...oh my...no words.

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  16. Julie - that was beautiful. You are truly a wonderful mother!


    Carolyn

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  17. Because you know this - she will, in time, know it too!

    Love her with all your heart thru the good times and the bad - and she will know.

    You are hers and she is yours.

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  18. AWESOME. I have always loved your blog but I think I love it more now that you are a MOM.

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  19. OK, my heart cannot contain the beauty of your mama love. Such amazing words, Julie.

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  20. Yes beautiful! Your words and heart are just perfect Julie. Wow.

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  21. so beautiful Julie!! and the lucky gift is that while living in the now, holding her in the moments where the world seems to stand still, you will be able to watch the magic as those things unfold in her. To watch her shift. There is something so magical about the first year when a child begins to truly understand that this is home. that this is love. It is re-birth...love transformation. It is magic!

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  22. Oh Geez, this one got me. Beautifully written and so true. I'm going to carry this with me all day :)

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  23. love, love, love this post. Love, love, love you guys too!!

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  24. Very sweet and touching post. Thank you for sharing.

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  25. Her last stop...oh, how important this reality is. Beautiful, Julie.

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  26. Thank you for blogging, Julie. Thank you!!

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  27. I love the last picture....as an outsider who hasn't spent much time with Meazi, it seems that she already has blossomed from all of your love and she will soon know that she can trust and rely and there are no more "stops" :)

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  28. I have only ever known this face as your daughter. I know that there is a before. With this post, I feel the weight of that more than ever. But when I her face for the first time I just knew this was the person that you get to be a mother to. This is the person who is your daughter. I felt that. I feel, somehow, through her eyes ... wow, through her open eyes and your open eyes, that she was yours and you were hers. I just felt this sense that the bond between you, the joy, all of the shared moments ... I just felt the sense of power in that.
    It is beautiful to see this unfolding, to see her lovely spirit, to know that you have each other. You have captured this moment. In such a way, that she will feel forever loved and cherished and respected. That is powerful mothering. I love you two together.

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  29. BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL!! Oh, you have captured what we all wish to share about our children... our chosen ones. Thank you for this post!
    Please stop by my crazy blog & leave your wonderful recommendation. You have a way with words that can touch hearts. I would be honored....
    "Crazy Adoption Recommends"
    www.mycrazyadoption.org
    Blessings,
    Kari

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  30. Great post. I can relate to longing for the future while trying to cherish today with my children.

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  31. I never cease to amazed at the power of a mother's love. Your words inspire me and lift me up. Thank you.

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