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Hannah came into our life several months ago when I received the long awaited telephone call from A Helping Hand telling me that I had another daughter. Before long I was taking my first excited glimpse at the pictures of Hannah. By my side my 3 year old daughter, Stephanie, jumped up and down in glee and ran to get her, "I'm a Big Sister" button that we had been saving for this moment. In the picture I saw a serious looking child, with very little hair, covered in so many layers of clothes that she looked like the Michelin Man. She couldn't even put her arms at her sides. The worn looking clothes were obviously made for a bigger child and the sleeves hung down, covering her hands. A string was wrapped around her waist and then tied to a chair to keep her from tumbling over. These pictures were my lifelines to my new daughter. I made copies of them to send out to friends, I enlarged copies to keep for myself. Everywhere I went I took the pictures with me. Her picture sat on the desk beside my computer. When I was in the kitchen cooking, the picture sat on the counter. When I played games with my daughter, Stephanie, Hannah's picture sat on the end table as if watching us. I studied that little face during the day and dreamed about her at night. Finally, five weeks later, the long journey to our daughter ended in a beautiful hotel in Changsha, Hunan. Too excited to sit in our room and wait, our travel group had assembled outside the elevator doors on the floor of our hotel. Hannah was coming by train from an orphanage three hours away and would be the first of the babies in our group to arrive. The doors to the elevator finally opened and out walked two well-dressed Chinese men accompanied by a woman holding a sleeping baby. The baby was heavily bundled in five layers of clothes, but with her bare bottom hanging out of the traditional Chinese split pants. There was no doubt in my mind that this was our Hannah, I knew that face so well by now. A few moments later she was placed in my arms and the flood of love and emotion I felt for her was overwhelming. Three years earlier I had been swept with emotion and cried when my newborn daughter was placed in my arms. Now, half a world away, I cried tears of joy again as I held my newest daughter. Birth - adoption; the feelings, the love, the emotions are the same. We believe that birth or adoption is just a way of bringing a child into your home. It is a way to create a family, or add to a family, or complete a family. It is just an event and a moment in time. What is permanent, what lasts for eternity, what truly matters is; that this child is now and will always be, your daughter or son. If you are looking to adoption as a way to bring a child into your home, then my husband and I highly recommend A Helping Hand. They were wonderful to us in every aspect and we couldn't have been happier with the service that we received, both here in the USA and in China. - Nancy Snyder
Adopt A Child | Why Us? | Our Families | How to Help 1510 Newtown Pike; Suite 152; Lexington, KY 40511 map © Copyright 2002-2003 A Helping Hand Adoption Agency. All rights reserved. Site design by Loracs Creations, Inc. Disclaimer: This page contains images of children not available for adoption. | |||||
