Forever Precious

Sunday night, after the whirlwind had nearly ended, Austin and I were sitting at the gate waiting for our plane to arrive when we met the sweetest little girl in the world. I was holding William while feeding him a bottle. Like most girls her age, she had her eyes glued to him. I saw her whisper something to her mom, to which her mom responded, "You'll have to ask the mommy". With that, she came walking my direction.

"I like your baby:"
"Well, thank you!"
"Where is he from?" At this I had to pause and smile. The little girl was Chinese and her parents were American, so she must assume that all parents travel the globe to get their children. It was a precious assumption, I thought.
"He is from Denver. Where are you from?"
"China. My parents got me when I was 16 months old"
her dad chimed in, "And Kimberley, when we got you I think you were about his size"
NO WAY, I thought. William is only 4 months, no way he is the size of an 18 month old. So I asked, "How much did she weigh?"
"Fifteen pounds. She was 16 months, couldn't walk or talk, only weight 15 pounds but she knew how to wash dishes."
My heart broke. Her mom explained that when they first brought her back to America all she was comfortable doing was sitting on the kitchen counter and washing dishes like she had done at the orphanage. How sad is that?

Kimberley proceeded to ask me if she could hold William's bottle as he drank, then wanted to shake his rattle for him to keep him occupied. I obliged to both. She told me about her school, how excited she is for summer, why they were in Houston, about her 16 year old brother Kevin who has disabilities, that she can count to 120 in English and 26 in Chinese...she was adorable. After she finished counting to 120 (to prove to me that she could, in fact, do it) her dad said, "Kimberley, tell them your Chinese name". She said she didn't remember, so he told us what it was. I can't write (or speak, for that matter) in Chinese, so I won't attempt to tell you her name, but he said "it means forever precious".

And "forever precious" she was. I hope she keeps her sweet little spirit as she grows! Meeting people like that in the airport make the wait for your plane not quite so boring.