Contrast

 Four and a half years ago, she was a single woman in her late 40s who owned a Montessori school and had no children of her own.

She was happy in her work, her church life, and her social life.  Yet for some reason, 4 1/2 years ago, the Lord began to impress it upon her heart that she needed to adopt a child.  She began to pray about it, seek wisdom, look into having a home study.

Two and a half years ago, a baby girl was born with deep, laughing brown eyes and very curly black hair.  Her mother abandoned her immediately, and she ended up in a crib in an orphanage in Bangladesh.  The room was crowded with cribs, and each baby was given diaper changes and bottles, and nothing more.

For the next two years, the girl grew up with no language input and almost no human touch.  None of the things we think of that our children need.

Six months ago, the woman brought this beautiful daughter home.

Now, at age 2 1/2, she stands next to a girl born in the USA who is her same age.  The girl born here talks, laughs, plays, fusses when she doesn't get her way, and is as typical as she can be.

The girl born in Bangladesh has finally learned a few words.  She plays, but her movements are jerky and uncoordinated, much more so than her little playmate.  She doesn't yet grasp the need for a fork, as she has always just stuffed food into her mouth.  She doesn't ask for things she wants, just eats if it's in front of her, sucks on the sippy cup if you put it in her mouth.  It's as if she's not sure that she can ask.

Last night, though, she asked for up, meaning to be held, and she asked, with a pointing finger and a questioning look, as if she were not sure she should ask, to go into another room when i did pick her up.

She is more interactive than the first time we took care of her.  She giggled a lot.  She cried when her mama left, but was soon cheerfully stuffing her mouth full of broccoli, after which she went to find toys.

The toy cell phone was her favorite.  It rings, she opens it and says "ewwo, ewwo!" and then hands it to me, so i can talk, too..

Of all the children with special needs we take care of once a month so that their parents can get out for a night, she is the one i think we will only see a couple of more times, because she will outgrow the program, and the others will not.

Her EEG is totally normal.  She just didn't have any sensory or language input for two years.  She's getting it now, and her mind is learning quickly, and it looks like she is going to be a normal little girl, with no memory of her early deprivations.

The contrast between her and the child born here will fade, and i'm glad.


Today is:

Adwa Victory Day -- Ethiopia

Feast of 'Ala (Loftiness) -- Baha'i (first full day of the 19 day fast)

Floral City Strawberry Festival -- Floral City, FL, US (fun for all, through tomorrow)

Going Forth of Set, Son of Nut -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Iditarod Sled Dog Race begins -- Anchorage to Nome, AK, US (1,000 miles along the historic Iditarod Trail)

International Association for Women of Color Day --information here

James Ronald Webster's Birthday -- Anguilla

Klondike Days -- Eagle River, WI, US (recreation of primitive camps used by early pioneers, a Native American cultural presentation, and more; through tomorrow)

March Nymph's Parade -- Fairy Calendar

National Banana Cream Pie Day

Natural Bridge Battle Reenactment -- Tallahassee, FL, US (Civil War reenactment; through tomorrow)

Old Stuff Day -- if you are doing the same old stuff, think about how you can change that

Peasants' Day -- Myanmar

Philadelphia Flower Show -- Philadelphia, PA, US (largest flower show in the US; through the 10th)

Saint Piran's Day Celebration -- Kansas City, KA, US (celebration of the patron saint of Cornwall and Cornish peoples, sponsored by the Greater Kansas City Cornish Society, on the Saturday nearest Mar. 5)

St. Chad of Mead's Day (Patron of St. Chad's College of the University of Durham in England; Birmingham, England; Lichfield, England)

Swamp Buggy Races -- Naples, Florida (the world famous swamp buggy races; through tomorrow)

Texas Independence Day -- Texas, US (anniversary of declaration of independence from Mexico in 1836)



Birthdays Today:

Bryce Dallas Howard, 1981
Chris Martin, 1977
Daniel Craig, 1968
Jon Bon Jovi, 1962
Laraine Newman, 1952
Karen Carpenter, 1950
Lou Reed, 1944
Mikhail Gorbachev, 1931
Jennifer Jones, 1919
Desi Arnaz, 1917
Mel Ott, 1909
Theodore Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss), 1904
Bedrich Smetana, 1864
Juvenal, 54


Today in History:

The Loves of Mars and Venus becomes the first ballet performed in England, 1717
A semaphore machine that will speed communication is introduced in Paris, 1791
The US Congress outlaws the import of slaves, 1897
The Republic of Texas declares its independence from Mexico, 1836
Aleksandr Romanov becomes the tsar of Russia, 1855
Tsar Aleksandr outlaws serfdom in Russia, 1861
The Convention of Constantinople is signed, guaranteeing free maritime passage through the Suez Canal during war and peace, 1888
In New York City the Martha Washington Hotel opens, becoming the first hotel exclusively for women, 1903
The original film version of King Kong premiers, 1933
Captain James Gallagher lands his B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II in Fort Worth, Texas after completing the first non-stop around-the-world airplane flight in 94 hours and one minute, 1949
The first automatic street light is installed in New Milford, Connecticut, 1949
In Toulouse, France the first test flight of the Anglo-French Concorde is conducted, 1969
Rhodesia declares itself a republic, breaking its last links with the British crown, 1970
The Pioneer 10 space probe is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida with a mission to explore the outer planets, 1972
Czech Vladimír Remek becomes the first non-Russian or non-American to go into space, when he is launched aboard Soyuz 28, 1978
CD players and discs are released for sale for the first time outside of Japan, 1983
Twelve European Community nations agree to ban the production of all chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by the end of the century, 1989
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, San Marino, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan join the United Nations, 1992
Data sent from the Galileo spacecraft indicates that Jupiter's moon Europa has a liquid ocean under a thick crust of ice, 1998