Sunday, July 19, 2015
Day Three in Haiti
Our third day in Haiti was also the day we were picking up Macy for the final time at her orphanage. As excited as she was to be with us and to be going home with us, I knew this would be a difficult day. For her, for her housemom, for others at the orphanage. Her housemom is with her group 6 days a week, with one day off. And Macy had lived there for the past almost four years. No matter how much you think and know this is for the best in the long term, that's hard.
Our driver picked Olivia and I up at the hotel and first we went to pick up the staff psychologist so she could be there with us for the pick up. It was basically a big meeting with us, Macy, and a number of the housemoms. They were allowed to ask us any questions or share anything they'd like. And we could in return. There was a lot of emotion. It was a hard all around. Those who did speak, shared a little about Macy and then just asked that we love her and take care of her. How scary for them to see her going far away with people they really didn't know. Lots of tears from us all.
Following that, we went back to the "hub" which is the hospital nearby. Our orphanage director is an amazing, amazing force in Haiti. She runs three orphanages, schools, and the hospital. We went to see her and pick up all of our important paperwork. She quickly had Macy smiling again and then Macy made her rounds to take pictures with everyone there as well.
We were finally on our way to the hotel.
As a family.
With Macy forever.
She loved all the play things I brought for us to use at the hotel. But didn't want to "play" with them, just wanted them all by her. This was funny because Olivia was the same way when she first came to live with us and it took her a long time to get past that. She wanted "stuff" but really didn't know HOW to play and use it. Macy was also given her special blanket from the orphanage when we picked her up. How precious to be able to bring that home for her to keep!
The rest of the evening and night were a bit of a blur. Macy went to sleep fairly easily. Olivia began not feeling well. Upset stomach, hard time sleeping, and then I started not feeling well. I asked the concierge for a thermometer for Olivia since the one I brought wasn't working, they didn't have one. At midnight I called our orphanage director to ask what to do. She said that she would have our driver come very early and bring us to the hospital. I was so afraid Olivia was not doing well and wasn't sure she could make it home the next day. It was not a good night. As Olivia was finally able to sleep, I spent the night between the floor of the bathroom and the floor of the hallway. The bathroom wasn't air conditioned and I was vacillating between chills and sweats. So I would go to the bathroom and lay there a while then get sweaty and come into the hall for a while then get the chills and repeat the process. I lay there and prayed HARD. We were leaving in the morning for the airport. We NEEDED to get to Miami and back to the US. In moments of feeling "ok", I would pack our bags so that we were completely ready to go and just had to put clothes on. I told God I would be sick all night as long as I could feel ok at 5 am. I finally slept a little and awoke at 5:06... feeling MUCH much better. Go God! We just had to get through the next half of a day and we were at least in the US.
Our driver picked Olivia and I up at the hotel and first we went to pick up the staff psychologist so she could be there with us for the pick up. It was basically a big meeting with us, Macy, and a number of the housemoms. They were allowed to ask us any questions or share anything they'd like. And we could in return. There was a lot of emotion. It was a hard all around. Those who did speak, shared a little about Macy and then just asked that we love her and take care of her. How scary for them to see her going far away with people they really didn't know. Lots of tears from us all.
Following that, we went back to the "hub" which is the hospital nearby. Our orphanage director is an amazing, amazing force in Haiti. She runs three orphanages, schools, and the hospital. We went to see her and pick up all of our important paperwork. She quickly had Macy smiling again and then Macy made her rounds to take pictures with everyone there as well.
We were finally on our way to the hotel.
As a family.
With Macy forever.
We played.
We took her to her first pool.
She warmed up quickly.
She loved all the play things I brought for us to use at the hotel. But didn't want to "play" with them, just wanted them all by her. This was funny because Olivia was the same way when she first came to live with us and it took her a long time to get past that. She wanted "stuff" but really didn't know HOW to play and use it. Macy was also given her special blanket from the orphanage when we picked her up. How precious to be able to bring that home for her to keep!
The rest of the evening and night were a bit of a blur. Macy went to sleep fairly easily. Olivia began not feeling well. Upset stomach, hard time sleeping, and then I started not feeling well. I asked the concierge for a thermometer for Olivia since the one I brought wasn't working, they didn't have one. At midnight I called our orphanage director to ask what to do. She said that she would have our driver come very early and bring us to the hospital. I was so afraid Olivia was not doing well and wasn't sure she could make it home the next day. It was not a good night. As Olivia was finally able to sleep, I spent the night between the floor of the bathroom and the floor of the hallway. The bathroom wasn't air conditioned and I was vacillating between chills and sweats. So I would go to the bathroom and lay there a while then get sweaty and come into the hall for a while then get the chills and repeat the process. I lay there and prayed HARD. We were leaving in the morning for the airport. We NEEDED to get to Miami and back to the US. In moments of feeling "ok", I would pack our bags so that we were completely ready to go and just had to put clothes on. I told God I would be sick all night as long as I could feel ok at 5 am. I finally slept a little and awoke at 5:06... feeling MUCH much better. Go God! We just had to get through the next half of a day and we were at least in the US.
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Olivia - 14
Braeden - 11
Liam - 9
Macy - 5
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5 years ago
1 comments:
So excited you have your new little one home with you! I hope everything is going well. Praying for peace and harmony in your home through the transition time.