Itty Bitty World

I recieved this email today (though I have taken out names etc for their privacy):

The reason I'm emailing you both is to ask if either of you have any pictures of the little girl in the red dress in the orphanage pics that I've sent? I'm not sure if you know her story but her name is T**** and she had just arrived at the orphanage when we got there to pick up the boys in early Feb (sorry if you already know all this..) She was referred to a family and when the case went to court, her mom decided she wanted her back. So even though the mom was homeless, The Agency had to give up guardianship and turn her back onto the streets with her mom. Before she left, S. had the agency phone # sewn into T****'s hat and told her to call if she ever needed help. Sadly, her mom abandoned her again leaving this poor 7 year old girl alone on the streets of Addis :( She eventually called the agency for help and S. apparently found her on the streets and brought her back to the Transition Home. They fed, bathed and clothed her and got the courts to grant them guardianship once again. The family who was originally supposed to adopt her eventually adopted another girl but had remained in close contact with S. and expressed to her that they would still like to adopt her if MOWA would allow it. MOWA finally declared T**** officially abandoned and the family was recently able to adopt her. She came home just over 3 weeks ago :)

I heard the full story from S. last week (we were emailing regarding our adoption) and was, of course, thrilled to hear about the happy ending. S******, J****** and I all agreed that there was something unforgettable about this girl and we often spoke about her on our trip and wondered about her afterward.

Ok.. so then last Sunday M**** and I took the boys to a fall fair in our area to visit our good friends (the famous tie-dyers. lol) who had a booth there. As soon as we arrived a women from the booth right next to them approached us to ask about the boys. She tells us that she also adopted 2 kids from Ethiopia and then says "my daughter's name is T****" We couldn't believe it! I'd been wondering about T**** all these months, then I finally got the update from S. that she was now with her forever family and 2 days later we cross paths with her mom? Pretty cool.

Anyway, her mom literally got tears in her eyes when I told her that we remember T**** from the orphanage and that we had pictures. She said they would be eternally grateful if I could email her any pictures we have of T****, as they have so few.

We've been emailing back and forth this week and she's lovely and so so thankful for the pics I sent of T****. I told her I would email the other families to see if anyone else has any pictures of her. Do you guys recognize her? If you have any pictures.. I know it would mean the world to her family if you could email them. They live in S********** and their email address is ************* and mom's name is L*****. "

So, not only did J know the child, but both myself and another mom she mailed this to have pictures of T****. I have SIX of them!!

This family is about 2 1/2 hours from me. Maybe if we can meet, T***** might tell ME something more about Malía's early days, too. :)

Small, small world, no??