The Red Thread

There is a Chinese Proverb that says "An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet regardless of time, place, and circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break." This saying is on the heading to my blog. This Chinese proverb has special meaning to parents waiting to adopt Chinese children with the belief that we are all connected and this tread will shorten when we meet our baby and start our lives together. The red thread for me is very short as I now have Teagan in my life. But the red thread has lengthened for Teagan's foster family as she left their home for mine thousands of miles away.

I believe one day Teagan and her foster mother will meet and the red thread will shorten once again.

I got the letter translated from Teagan's foster mother today. I met a super nice lady and her daughter in Pettisville named Kelly and Lin Lin. Kelly has been living in the USA for 11 years now and she was able to translate the letter for me. She said she could do more translating for me in the future. I think she will become a good friend as well and maybe even teach Briley and Teagan some Chinese.

As for the pictures...the apartment building is where Teagan lived and the cradle is where Teagan slept. The little boy is her Grandson, not her son. The daughter in the first picture is her oldest daughter (she has 3 daughters and one son). The two ladies in the last photo are her sister-in-law and her third daughter.

Here is a shortened version of the letter:

Dear Ni Jing's parents,

How are you? We are very pleased to receive the pictures you sent over to us. My happiness and joy is beyond description. I have looked at the pictures again and again. I am excited to see Ni Jing has grown a lot since she left here. I am joyful with tears and I miss her dearly! We are deeply appreciate your love and care for NiJing. She is a gift for you from God, you've been blessed with such a nice little girl!

Ni Jing was born on May 27th of 2006. I brought her home on May 29th, two days after she was born. She only weighed a little over 5 pounds, very small and yellow. I didn't want to bring her home at the beginning, but my sister-in-law, who is the vice president of the local orphanage, insisted I should bring her home. She told me Ni Jing looked very little, but everything would be changed after few months of growth. So I brought her home, gave her a bath and put new clothes on for her. She was such a nice little baby, very easy to take care of. Her appetites got better in the next day or two; she ate more and more each day. In less than 10 days, she changed a lot. In 40th days she gained over 10 pounds. She became light colored, grew lots of hair with bright eyes, she became a pretty little girl!

Our family loved her very much. She had a very mild temper, never cried too loud, only weep in a little voice sometimes. She was not picky on whom she wanted to hold her, easy to get along with anybody. She also smiled a lot; if she was crying for something, you can just call her name, and she would stop crying immediately, it seemed she understood others very well. When she saw I was busy, she won't cry for attention; but when I was not busy, she wanted me to hold her, then she would start to cry to get attention; as soon as I pick her up she became happy. In the evenings I sometimes took her to visit different stores, she really liked that and wanted to go every night.

Ni Jing was the 5th baby I took care at home, and she was also the last one. I love kids but I don't have a new one yet. She is also a very pretty girl with good health. As I can remember, she was only sick a few times when she was with me. When Ni Jing was only 7 months old, she could call papa already. We gave her nick name "jing jing". When she left here, we really missed her and I cried for a few days after she left. When I received the pictures you sent over, I was very excited and overwhelmed. Now I am very happy for her that she has a family with you, and she is blessed with the love from you.

Now let me tell you a little about my family. My name is Mu Ying Liu and I am a house wife. My husband, Dong Sheng Kong, is a tricycle driver. Our oldest daughter called Xiangfei Kong works at local orphanage; our 2nd daughter, Xiangqing Kong just got married; our 3rd daughter is an office worker in Shanghai. Our son Jun Kong joined the army last year. I have a grandson, Wenxuan Wang, he is the son of my oldest daughter; he always liked to play with Ni Jing when she was here.

We really appreciate your love and care for Ni Jing. We would like to keep in touch if it is OK with you. I hope you can continue to send pictures of Ni Jing in the future while she is growing up. Thank you so much for what you and your family have done for her. We think about you and Ni Jing everyday. May God continue to bless you and your family.

One thing I regret was I never took picture with Ni Jing when she was with me. I was not aware until two days before that she would leave so soon. Best wishes to you and your family.

She then left her mailing address again and phone number, and the letter was dated 7/25/2007. So you can see she had a lot to tell me. I can't image raising a child for so long and then one day she is just gone. I was surprised to see her refer to God so often--she must be a Christian. She also thanked me for taking her--I should be the one thanking her. I was extremely surprised of Teagan's small size at birth--she grew quickly. I had to laugh at how patient she was as a baby and how she would go to anyone--not the case at all now! She had a great foster mother and with Kelly's help, we will continue to keep in touch with her.