[September Review] More on our little Pearl

The director of our Bulgarian agency has taken to calling Tsvetomira by her middle name. She refers to her as "our little Pearl." I love that. ;) She, too, shares our conviction that somewhere inside that crippled little body is a person.

Following is a little snip of a sweet email she sent us around Christmas:
And, oh, react to human touch, she does! No one will ever make me believe that on some deep level, she doesn't have feelings and memory for all that life has hurdled her way!

Although I've intended to go back and share all of the wonderful photos we have of our visits with the girls back in September, now that I'm finally able to after their adoption on December 15th, I've been spending a lot of time on actually getting ready for what ended up being a home coming almost a month sooner than we'd been planning!

But I have a few minutes here, so here you go!

On this second visit with Tsvetomira, we decided to leave her in her stroller to hopefully minimize the stress we caused her. We did a lot of talking to her, letting her hear our voices even if she didn't make any noticeable response to us.

 Gloria was awake on this visit, and was very interested in Tsvetomira. Traveling with a baby was a wonderful thing on so many levels. Gloria doesn't have any of the preconceived notions that older people (including older children!) have about disabilities.

 There she is - reaching out to hold her sister's hand. Tsvetomira can't reach for her in any way, but Gloria, completely non-plussed, just reached out and grabbed on herself as though it was the most natural thing in the world. And it is.

 Tsvetomira's scoliosis is very severe. The photos don't fully do it justice, but her little torso is practically deeper front to back than it is side to side. The only way I can explain this is that having spent SO many years ONLY lying on her side - one or the other - that her body has grown into that shape, almost as though gravity has pressed it flat. But look at her Daddy's hand.

That "misshapen" little back just happens to be just the right size, and shape, to hold. Oh, looking at that photo tonight makes my chest tighten up as I long to be with her again.