The Surprise

Part of the reason I have helped the children of Bengbu is to maintain the connection, a link, between the orphanage and the adoptive families that trace their roots there.  These are the families who have precious children whose lives begin at the unknown nexus of Bengbu SWI, a place that contains all at once sorrow, happiness, despair, hope, agony, and peace.  It is a place of darkness, and a place of light.  The unanswered questions that remain there are the source of our Faith. 

 

We have all viewed the darkness of their lives and our own.  From that nothingness, a supernova of light emerges.  When we hold our children in our arms, our souls soar, and hope springs eternal in our lives.

 

Bengbu is very precious to all of us, and I do my best to respect and honor that meaning for adoptive families.

 

Thus it has been hard to hold the secret of this trip, because of what it means to other people.  In particular, to one very special person.

 

For 10 years I have carried an illuminating torch to Bengbu, and have helped many families strengthen and understand the Red Thread that binds us to Bengbu, and have been humbled and proud to be one of the links of the chain that provides assistance to the children that remain there.

 

But just a few months ago, I received an email.  It was not from the parents who came with questions or with gracious support.  It was from a voice I had not heard before – a Bengbu adoptee.

 

She spoke to me not with a voice of a child, or the voice of her parents, but with a voice of strength, and consciousness that I knew was inevitable, but for which I was not prepared.  She said, “I want to go to Bengbu”.

 

And so, an entirely new journey to Bengbu begins for us.