Being Greeted

Last night, we worked at the school's kitchen (think stripped down, ill-equipped for "western food" purposes, "heavily" used, massive kitchen of the 50's) for more than 5 hours preparing the sandwiches, cookies, and tea for the big event today.  I have to get everyone out the door in the next 2 hours...and Daddy has to pop in his massive pot on the stove some 3 KG of popcorn for the girls' booth before we can leave...so my time is short here!

We'd had some crazy experiences while working with our volunteers at the kitchen.  But we carried on with various students and Chinese teachers coming in to help the many stages of the operation while we sang rounds of "Row Row Row Your Boat," "The Wheels on the Bus" and other vocal stylings and remakes of hits from the 70's and 80's.  Most of my colleagues, I think it is fair to say, think that I am a lunatic...but they were smiling and laughing while they were working!

The entire Wu family (our teammates from back There) were engaged in the effort with Ms. Wu using her 18+ years of commercial food prep to help us negotiate the challenges of the planning and prep.  (I simply have no mind for how many tea bags to use to make a massive batch of tea, for instance!)

Magpie and The Bug stood strong while spreading slice after slice of tuna fish on bread.  Ham juice was flying around when some of my 1st grade students (with vigorously washed hands) helped assemble some other sandwiches.

There was a constant barrage of onlookers who came in thinking that they would "sample" the cookies as they came out of the oven.  I, ninja-like, was the interceptor who demanded they pay for any cookie they sampled.  (This was terribly inappropriate for the culture...but as all the proceeds of our booth have now been dedicated to Little Kevin, instead of the school, I felt justified in holding up any thief for questioning and prosecution if needed!)  By the end of the night, we'd already sold more than a dozen cookies (some albeit to unwilling/extorted "samplers") and the rest to those who couldn't wait until today to enjoy the oatmeal raisin delights!

My legs and feet were so sore from standing on the concrete floor, and my back aching from bending over the too-low counters...that I stumbled home in a fog.  But when I reached our apartment the smells of Daddy's latest experimental cooking (Chinese-style) welcomed me...but best of all...peeking around the door was The Bruiser...his face lit up at seeing me (we usually come home together at 2:30, but it was 7:30 PM and the first time he'd seen me) and he said in this low, gravelly voice "Hello Momma!" 

It was a REAL welcome.  A genuine greeting from a little heart that is making those key connections of not just identity (that I am his Momma, something he's never known before) but the highly-prized emotional connections that we wait for in hope during this first months/years of adoption.   He was thrilled to see me!  He rushed over, hugged my legs and with a huge grin, buried his face.

It is the little miracles, too.  Adoption is full of massive, mind-blowing miracles like we've experienced...but the little ones...like last night...leave me awestruck.

Off to peddle some "Western Food" wares...