Many people choose Guatemala to adopt from because of the foster parent system. The thought of a loving family nurturing their child until they can bring him/her home brings great peace of mind. Yes, there are children adopted from orphanages, such as my blogging partner and his wife, but the majority of adopted children from Guatemala are in foster care until the adoption is completed.

So on this “Love Thursday” my mind travels to Guatemala, where Ella’s foster mother resides. L is a young single woman and was in her late twenties when she started fostering Ella. Ella was a mere three days old and five pounds when L picked her up and brought her home. Although L was not yet a mother herself and lived alone, she had her sister nearby who was an experienced mother and also a foster mother.

When I flew to Guatemala to visit Ella for a week during the adoption process, L brought her to the hotel, and with the help of a translator we had a long conversation. I could see that she was very protective towards Ella and that the two of them had a strong bond. She spent a lot of time explaining exactly how Ella liked to be fed, held, rocked and put to sleep, and couldn’t suppress the look of relief on her face when I told her that Ella was my fourth child.

When the week came to an end, L came to pick up Ella, and this time we did not have an interpreter. With my thirty word Spanish vocabulary and sign language, we communicated pretty well. She gave Ella a good looking over; I think to verify that I “hadn’t done any damage.” She wanted to know how much she had slept and eaten, and if she had smiled a lot. She also brought me a sweet gift, and was very understanding when I had the hardest time putting Ella into her arms at the elevator and began to sob uncontrollably. Later I consoled myself with the image of L holding Ella in her arms like the most precious child in the world.

The monthly photos we received of Ella revealed a very healthy baby growing wonderfully. She had a couple colds in those seven months with L, but nothing more. L would report that Ella loved to be held, and I had no doubt that she gave Ella everything she needed and much more.

When L handed Ella over to me in May, this time forever, she cried like I had a few months before. This baby had become her baby, and I was taking her away. I cried with her; I could empathize. Ella would miss her as well. A strong bond had grown between this lovely, gentle, caring and devoted young Guatemalan woman, and our baby girl. Now this bond would be broken and a new one with us would have to be formed.

L and I exchanged gifts and hugged and cried when we parted. We shared something so unique that there just aren’t words for it. She had loved and nurtured my daughter for the first seven months of her life, and for that I will be eternally grateful. L told me that Ella was her little angel, and she would always love her and never forget her. What I realized shortly after was that L had been Ella's guardian angel until she could come home to us.

Bless you L.