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The happiest day of our lives led to some of the toughest we have ever experienced. Those few moments we spent in an orphanage on the north side of Antigua, Guatemala were so incredibly exhilarating. There was no doubt in our minds that we should pursue the adoption. That moment can only compare with the moment you hold your child just after they are born (That post is yet to come.) A love began to build inside of me that I could not explain except that it was the love for a daughter. Kristina’s demeanor spoke volumes as we sat on the flight back to North Carolina. She had so much excitement to share with our families and yet her eyes indicated that so much of her was still behind beside that little wooden crib.
We arrived at Kristina’s parent’s around 6:00pm and began to share our experience from the week. Her entire family had gathered to hear about this little one that they would soon come to love. Detail after detail poured out as each one excitedly waited for the next word. Pictures of Mia were being passed back and forth among the family as though it were truly her here among us. Kristina thanked them for their support and finished in a way that brought her face to face with reality abruptly. the last words she managed were “so now here we are and our daughter is in Guatemala…” She sat down in the chair behind her as her legs had no more strength to carry her. The adrenaline and excitement had been enough to get her home but the realization that this was a process and she might not see her daughter for weeks or months was too much to bear.
Later that week as Christmas approached, we realized that this was going to take much longer than we had anticipated. Marcelo told us that the government virtually shuts down through the Christmas holiday which gave us little hope of progress until the New Year. As we sat in O’Charleys on a brisk day in Lynchburg, VA, Kristina looked at me over her steaming potato soup and began to talk of what it meant to her to be a mom. She tried to say that no matter what anyone said, the moment she held Mia, she gave her heart to that baby. Again she made it no further than a couple words before the rivers flowed from pools of anticipation and heartache.
Christmas was not Christmas without Mia. We spent our vacation with family in Hershey, PA at the Sight and Sound Theater and at Hershey Park. However the feeling that something someone was missing not only resided in us. All of our family felt an emptiness. We could only pray for her safety.
The Mummau Family
November 2003
Mi Hogar Manchen, Antigua, Guatemala
The Mummau Series
1. Choosing To Adopt
2. Why International? Why Guatemala?
3. The Call From Guatemala
4. The Process Begins
5. A Prelude To Mia
6. How Can You “Choose” A Child – Leaving Others Behind?
7. Peer Into The Heart – Journal Entries
8. Meeting Maria – Finding Mia
9. Leaving Our Daughter…is that…no way!
10. Rivers of Waiting
More blogs about Guatemala Adoption.
