Emotional Week

This week, we will celebrate ElleAnna's third birthday. It is a time of mixed emotions - we are extremely grateful for her coming into our lives and are glad to be her new family, however, we also know that its possible that there is a woman in China who is sad this week as she recalls the events of her life just three years ago now.

We know very little about the circumstances surrounding our daughter's entrance into this world. We do not know if she was born in a hospital or at another setting. We do not know if she has other siblings. We do not know if her parents were married. We do not know if her grandparents in China knew that she existed or if they ever saw her. We do not know if her mother had intended to keep her, but then, because of the cleft lip/palate, did not feel she could care for her newly born daughter. We do not know her exact birth date or time. We do not know what she was wearing or if a family made blanket kept her warm until she was found that day. It is doubtful that we will ever get any answers to these questions.

We only know that on March 12, 2005, at about 4:35pm, a police officer on duty received a call from an employee of an oil field company. The man reported to the police that he had found a tiny child at the building entrance when he went out. The police went to the scene and found a little girl there. The child had a cleft lip/palate. The little girl was taken to a nearby Social Welfare Institution (orphanage) where she was raised. Based on her umbilical cord and other findings, it was estimated that she was born the same day that she was found. The orphanage staff named her PanSuo. In November of 2007, PanSuo became ElleAnna Suo as we welcomed her into our lives.

We will eat Elmo birthday cake and ice cream on Wednesday to celebrate, but I have to feel sadness for the woman in China who believed she had no other option but to give this little girl to someone else. I pray that this special lady has a sense of peace and comfort as ElleAnna is safe now. She is loved deeply by her new family and we will do everything we can to see that she has the best life possible. We will help her learn about her awesome Chinese heritage and also, will teach her what it is to be proud of being an American. I hope that as ElleAnna blows out her first birthday candles with us, she is blowing her birth mother a kiss. Elle's mother in China has given our family a remarkably wonderful daughter and for that, we are eternally grateful!