Separation

I wish there was a different word for it.   The connotation is that we are the ones responsible.

Liza's sister is older by 1 year and some months.  We understand that she left the orphanage by choice a few years ago.  She has a job and a relationship and no desire to leave the country.  Even so, because  Liza is still in the "system", her sister is still legally attached to her in the government's eyes.  Their brother is not.  He is "of age".  This is a different age than the age where they are released.  As he is older than 18, he is an adult.  If there is a younger sibling still in the system, a child who has aged out is still adoptable, as long as they are not yet 18.  This will all change in less than 2 weeks when L turns 16.  However in Crimea, it is illegal to 'separate' siblings.  There are different laws in this part of the country as it is its own entity.  By separating they mean that we are adopting one sister without the other.  And it is a painfully complex process.  

Both her sister "V" and her brother "R" came into town today voluntarily.  This was a miracle.  Many siblings have to be tracked down and bribed.  These two wanted no more from us than a picture of their sister.  We met her first.  She is a beautiful girl.  She is a sad girl.  She has been in some trouble and they described her to us as "not a good girl".  What can one expect of a child whose trust has been broken at the core and seen years tick by in which no one came to love her?  Whose fault is that?  I showed her the pictures we have been carrying around in a small album of Liza's time in North Carolina, our house, her bedroom, her new siblings.  I told her that we wanted her to call, to write, to visit; that new sisters will not take her place.  That she is special.  She said she thought Liza would change in America, that she already had and couldn't wait to get back there.  Her eyes were red, but she never cried and wouldn't say more than that.  She is a statistic.  She looks nothing like Liza but I was drawn to her and pray that this is not the last we see of her.  She left without saying goodbye.

The brother came next.  He and V do not speak.  They didn't say a word to each other the whole time.  He is 6'2", slender and very handsome.  He looks like he walked off of a magazine, but many people here do.  Ukrainians are beautiful people.  His eyes were bright, he was kind and happy.  Somehow he and Liza weren't broken by their circumstances as their sister has been.  He is living in a home bought by a Christian family for kids who've aged out of the system but are on the right track.  He is described as a "good boy".  He picked a picture out of the album of the entire family sitting on the front steps of our house in August.  Interesting choice.  We exchanged phone numbers and he promised to visit his sister on Sunday to say goodbye.  I hope we see him again.  Liza's life will be better with him in it.  She looks up to him as all little sisters look up to their older brothers.

The papers were signed and we were going to take them directly to the town in which all three children were born.  But the officials there are disputing the separation.  We hope to go in the morning.  Our facilitator is very determined and competent.  I think it'll be okay.

We met the director of the orphanage today as well.  At first I took her for a typically hard Russian woman. They often don't greet us when we come in.   But she isn't.  She is a mother to 300 children and you can imagine that would make you fiercely protective.  Again the story of our experience in Philadelphia was told.  I cried.  She cried while smiling at us.  Even our facilitator telling the story cried (again).  The Director is one of the reasons that our Liza has come through the years with her spirit intact and has the ability to love and be loved.  She hugged me as we left and gave us permission to have Liza for Thanksgiving :)

Congressman Bob Brady called tonight to check on our progress and offer any help he can give.  He's a keeper if you live in PA.

Please pray for R and V and their future relationship with their sister.  And pray for Liza's best friend "A" who turns 16 next summer, has lost the ability to be hosted over Christmas because of some red tape, and who will lose the closest thing she has to family in a few weeks.  There are so many children without homes here.
Reagan