News From Afar

As soon as I saw this letter in my mailbox, I knew right away who it was from. It was from Teagan's foster mother in China. Here she is holding Teagan who she called "Jing Jing".

The day Teagan was handed to me, I discover Chinese writing on the inside of one of her shirts. I knew that at 3 days of age Teagan was put in a foster home and I was sure that the writing was from Teagan's foster mother. Later, I also discovered Chinese writing on small patches of fabric rolled and stitched into the armpits of her little blue sweater. Our Translator in China told me that they all said the same thing--they were the name, address, and phone number of Teagan's foster mother. He said that she wanted me to keep in touch with her.

I sent photos of Teagan to the foster family for the first time after I had Teagan home for about 6 months. I never expected to get a reply, but a few months later, I received 4 photos of Teagan's foster family and a 6 page letter in Chinese telling me all about Teagan's first 7 months of life in China. To read the first letter, read this post and this one.

I sent more photos about a year later. I didn't get a reply. I decided to send more photos this past January when we reached 3 years together. Again, I didn't expect a reply. But, this time, I got another letter and 6 more photos!

This first photo is Mu Ying Liu, Teagan's foster mother. What makes me sad about this photo is how sad she looks. She is holding Teagan's photo that we sent to her. If you look on the table, you will see the rest of the contents of the package we sent her--more photos and a picture Teagan drew for her on purple paper.

This photo is of her husband (Dong Sheng Kong), her son (Jun Kong) and her Daughter (Xiangfei Kong). Her son looks like a typical young person in China. I love how her daughter is giving the peace sign!

This is a photo of where Teagan slept. She sent me a photo of this before, but this one is different. This one looks like there is a little hand sticking out--could this be Teagan?

This last photo is her son again (must be a younger photo of him) and her third daughter, XiangQing Kong.

After I received the translated letter, I realized just how much it means to the foster family that I send photos of Teagan to China. A portion of the letter is below:

"Thank you so much for sending Ni Jing's picture. I'm fairly moved and appreciate that Ni Jing can live with your family where its filled with love. Looking at the pictures, I saw Ni Jing had grown a lot. She's very cute, very beautiful, and very intelligent. I'm sure that those pictures will become my priceless fortune of my life. For our family, having those pictures is better than having anything else. There is no single word that can describe my gratitude to your family. Tears rolled down my face when I saw those lovely pictures. I know there is nothing better than those pictures. Thank you so much."

She also told me that Teagan was the last of 5 foster daughter's that she had. She regrets not taking any other photos of Teagan when she lived with them. She talks about how hard it was for her to take Teagan to the adoption agency and how she cried for a few days after she was gone. She told me that she does housework, her husband doesn't make a decent salary, her son works for the railroad, her oldest daughter works for the adoption agency, her second daughter works in a hotel, and her youngest daughter lives far away.

She ends the letter: "Finally thank you so much for loving Ni Jing. We are so glad that we can connect with your family. We are looking for more lovely pictures of Ni Jing. Please believe that your family lives in our life. We hope that we can meet each other one day!"

So, as you can see, I made her day! I didn't realize until now, just how much it means to see photos of Teagan. She really loved her, gave her a good home, and made her a part of her family. I will continue to send photos of Teagan to Mu Ying Liu in the future. And, maybe, I will continue to get letters from China!