There is something very strange about having these two girls in the same place. Our oldest and youngest. Three months after Lydia was born Britt left for college.On one of our last days together Britt cried that Lydie wouldn't know her. I remember feeling really sad for both of them. These two sisters have reconnected. Lydia (by her choice) left to go with Britt this afternoon. Just the two of them on a date. On Tuesdays and Thursdays she goes to work at a local church with Britt. She adores her big sister. It is so cute. Lydie also loves Chris (her brother-in-law) and calls him "Kiss" and runs when she hears he is at the door.
Yesterday we followed Britt to church and Troy said, "How weird is it that - that is our kid - driving a car - that they bought - there she is - right there in front of us?" I just nodded in agreement. All of this is so odd and so not what I thought February 2010 would be.
We've always sort of felt like our life is not our life. Having kids in college and in diapers - and all the other things that make us odd - we have no category. It seems even stranger to us than it does to you.
Paige is taking a three week Drivers Education course, another thing that does not seem possible. She is very excited. Because of this class even when we return to our Haiti home, she will be eligible to come to TX to take her test to get her license when she is sixteen. That is *big* to this particular 15 year old.
We're hoping to hire some Baylor Education majors in the coming week and get them started tutoring our kids. We've decided with such an unknown future and so much to process that traditional school is too much right now. For school, we're reading and writing and letting a lot slide so we can get counseling and go to Doctors appointments and simply work at figuring out life done first. Worst case scenario, the kids won't get a long summer break and will need to make-up work during that time. Earthquakes have a way of jacking with your plans and any ability to make new plans.
The last few days we've been reading funny FaceBook stati (plural for status?) about the people staying at our house. Kind of weird that we will never meet a lot of them. I am actually heading home on Thursday, very excited about that. I will only stay a week or two depending on what Troy thinks once I am gone. He is Mr. Dad/Mom/do-it-all Extraordinaire and will have (almost) no trouble running this show without me. It is super odd to be going to VISIT my home. But that is what I am doing, so just more weird on top of the weird.
I am anxious to work with Beth to figure out what the post-earthquake Heartline Womens Program is going to look like. I might get south to see the World Wide Village Leogane Hospital project. I am SO looking forward to hugging my amazing friend Jen and spending some time together without as much chaos in the evenings.
I am also excited to assure Jeronne that we love her and deliver her a new pair of jeans that she requested. Troy is giving me his list to accomplish and hopefully it will be an incredibly productive time. I truly hope and pray I can also use this time to help solidify some of the things Troy and I have been talking with God about. See you soon Ayiti Cheri!
For those of you that have received Humanitarian Parole for your Haitian-born child, if you have any marvelous government-type-people that know how to go about getting that HP turned into legitimate U.S. Citizenship ... please let us know. It seems most everyone is getting very few answers about getting started on that process. I get the feeling that will be the next battle for all the adoptive parents.
There are so many great songs and videos and efforts being made to help raise money for Haiti ... here are two more that I have not yet posted here:
Come Together Now - Music City Unites For Haiti from Provident Label Group on Vimeo.
