The clothes off their backs...

When I adopted Jordan, I felt such sadness at times. The stark reality was that all she had in her life at that time was literally the clothes she was wearing. They handed her to me and that was it.




Picture - Jordan's clothes she was wearing at her Gotcha Day...

When Cindy and I (and Jordan) left her birth city to go to Guangzhou for her visa processing, I cried my eyes out on the plane. Cindy joined with me in the tearshed. Leaving the land of Jordan's birth and taking her away was somehow so sad. We were leaving her heritage and ancestry behind. We were leaving her birth parents - where ever they were, and for whatever reason they were unable to keep her. I wondered if her bio mother would ever know where she was, who she was, and that she was loved. It was sad to empathetically "feel" the bio mother's grief - but I did. I was removing Jordan (then known as Wu Tong Shu) from any culture she would have known and birthright in China.

Don't get me wrong - I also knew and believed that it was definitely more "gain" than "loss" for her. Immense love, safety, protection and opportunities here are just a few of her "gains" here. But there was some loss.

In Viet Nam, I found out about Brian's abandonment at the gates of the orphanage just a couple days after birth, and once again grieved for the loss when I brought him here. I was so much more convicted in his opportunity for "gain" though - as I guess I had developed some sense of confidence as a mother and provider. (Thank God for my blessings.)

Again, all that Brian had was the clothes he was wearing. If you look closely at the picture here of Brian's clothes, you'll see the number "8" sewn into several of his garments. I don't know what that stood for. On some of the VN Bac Ninh blogs, people surmise that it was the room number at the orphanage. Others think that perhaps it is the actual baby identification - used in place of a name.

Picture - Brian's clothes he was wearing at Giving & Receiving Day

It was just all he had to his name.

#8.

Wow.

When they are adults, I wonder what Jordan and Brian will think about these clothes. Will they frame them? Burn them? Will they be proud of where they came from or ashamed? Will they keep the clothes stored away until one day show them to their own children and explain their beginnings?

Now that the US is closed to Viet Nam for adoptions, I pray for the orphans and abandoned children who may never have the opportunity for a forever family. I am thankful that my children have these garments from their earliest beginnings. From out of the ashes rises a phoenix...