The Infamous Lunch Date...

A lifelong girlfriend of mine asked me to lunch and we had a wonderful time catching up.  Then as we were saying our goodbyes, she just happened to mention that she going to be hosting a Russian orphan for a week in July.  Still to this day, I don’t know why, but my heart jumped and I blurted out that I wanted to do it too! 

According to the dates she told me, I’d be in Arizona on a Misison Trip with my high schoolers for the first half of the orphan’s stay; however, I thought that at the very least I could lend a hand at some of the outings during the last half.  She promised to get my name to the guy in charge. 

I chatted with the hosting agency and was told the actual dates… and as it turns out I would be home from Arizona for a full three days before the orphans arrived.  In a matter of days, I collected the required letters of recommendation and other forms and we set up a time to meet.  Before I knew it, the week the kids were coming was here.  The host families gathered at the agency to find out who we would be hosting… and get the fear of God put in us! 

    … The kids wouldn’t speak English. 
    … They would probably throw up in our cars.
    … They would raid our fridges. 
    And…  The agency had planned more outings for that week then I do in a year!

But, something in me still shouted… “Um… sure, I’m still in!”

Then… they handed us our folders.  I opened mine. 

There she was… my daughter.

She had brown eyes and brown hair.  She had an adorable little smile that suggested she might steal my heart.  That should have been a warning! 

The meeting went on, but all I could think about was Thursday getting here fast so we could meet her!

And it did… before we knew it we were off to the airport to meet the nine little Russian orphans that would be enjoying Colorado for the next seven days. 

She stood out.  Mainly because she was the tallest, but it was her eyes that caught my attention.  The little girl in the picture stood eye to eye with me and rambled on a mile in a minute in Russian that sounded like made up words.  She was definitely in charge.

Suddenly, I was nervous.  I felt the need to impress her and be some sort of perfect model of what a mom was supposed to be... that lasted all the way home... 

She carried one small duffle bag and a black purse.  They introduced her to us, Ashley handed her a pink and black stuffed animal, and she motioned to leave.  Just like that, she was ready to walk away with complete strangers. Well, ok, then.  We were on our way.  

I would ask her questions and she would look at me like an alien.  My confidence was shaking.   

She looked pretty sure of herself, but that slowly faded as we drove the hour it took to get home.  It didn’t help that it poured rain and the clouds above our head were swirling slowly.  Before we knew it, we were home.  She looked unsure, but she followed Ashley up to her room and they pulled out nail polish within seconds.  Girls being girls, they were busy giggling and painting nails for the next hour.  Language barriers and 5 years of age difference didn’t matter.  They were girls and there was work to be done… on their toes.
 

 This was my first picture:
Ashley is staring up at her with admiration.  She is smiling at me with pride. 

When the girls were done with their impromptu salon, I asked her if she wanted to see the dogs.  She understood the word “dog” and excitedly shook her head “yes.”  I slowly let them in, and they were their usual excited selves.  They licked her face and had her rolling over and over, side to side, laughing hysterically.  By this point, I felt confident that she would be just fine throughout the week. 

And she was…