Tears for Gianna's friends left behind

This morning Dan went to get Gianna Mai's passport. When he left, she started crying. Their nap time is at 11am and she is madly in love with Dan, so being left with mẹ didn't sound like fun. I showed her pictures of her old friends at the orphanage which started to calm her down. When we got to pictures of her and her caretakers, she covered the screen with her hand. This is the first time I heard her talk; it seemed like she was calling out the name of her caretaker. Once I flipped to Vietnam landscape pics, she uncovered the screen. This was heartbreaking. Mai has spent the whole two years of her little life at the orphanage; its the only life she knows. Now to see her amazement at a soft bed, clean clothes, all the food she can eat brings tears to my eyes. She is so lucky to have been chosen when there are roughly a half million more orphans in Vietnam alone. Many will never be so fortunate to have parents. So I cried with her, and still cried even after she went to sleep. What can we do to help these kids like little cookie monster that was all too eager for food and attention? I felt stupid, we had brought a crib full of material possessions (clothes, bottles, shampoo, etc) when all they really needed was milk for the kids. We donated 2 million Dong but even that seemed shamefully small in comparison to what we have waiting for us at home.

On a brighter note, Mai seemed to open up a little more this afternoon. We were sitting on lounge chairs by the pool and she was on Dan's lap playing some sort of patty-cake game that we didn't know, mumbling Vietnamese. Jada and her bố came out to the pool. When Mai saw them, her face lit up and she clapped her hands! She really misses her friends and the orphanage. Sometimes we catch her caressing her dinosaur or her orphanage shoes, deep in thought. She gets teary eyed and wants to be held close. They say this grief can last for months. The sense of loss is overwhelming, but she has gained a new name, a new family and a new life! I finally uploaded the pics from the G&R ceremony and some from this afternoon you can access by clicking here.