Dani's First Publication!

Most of you know that Dani was the recipient of many Love Without Boundaries programs. Specifically, the Foster Care, Medical and Orphanage Assistance programs. Without their involvement Dani and other orphans in China may not have been healthy enough to be considered for adoption let alone thrive.

This month in the February LWB Newsletter, Dani is listed on page 4 of the "Welcome Home" section in which orphans who were in a LWB program are listed. As Dani was in several LWB programs however; they asked me to write an editorial on her and our family. It will be featured in the March newsletter so stay tuned! In the mean time, check out the LWB website (http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com). Click on "February Newsletter" on the right-hand side to view Dani and other orphans who now have a Forever Family.

https://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/pdfs/March2010.pdf

Adoption Journey Through China (155 photos), by Tiffany Bagalini

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Good-bye Big Grandma

The New Year is a distant memory, January has come and gone and before you know it, March will be upon us. Yes, it has been a LONG time since my last post and while only one month has passed, our entire world has changed.

On Monday, January 18th, my Grandmother passed away unexpectedly. For those of you who don’t know (or have only recently begun to follow our Blog), our newly adopted daughter from China was named after my Grandmother. My Grandmother’s Chinese name translates to “Jade” and we named our daughter, Dani Jade in her honor. During the almost 3 year wait, one of my biggest fears was that my Grandmother would not be around to see us bring our daughter home from her “Mother” country. Fortunate for us, after switching to the Special Needs Adoption program, we were able to bring our daughter home the day after Thanksgiving, 2009. That very evening after traveling for nearly 28 hours from China to the U.S., Dani was eating Thanksgiving dinner with her family, including her proud Great Grandmother.

In the days that followed, Grandma called almost daily to check on her new (and only) great granddaughter. The conversations typically went like this:

Me: Hi Grandma, whatcha doing?
Grandma: How’s the baby?
Me: Oh, she’s good. Still adjusting to the time change.
Grandma: You know, I think she’s smart.
Me: I agree Grandma; I think she’s very smart.
Grandma: Yah, you can tell. She’s got a big head. Big head, big brain.

Or like this:

Me: Hi Grandma, whatcha doing?
Grandma: How’s the baby? Is she awake?
Me: Yah, she’s awake. She’s pulling out her shoes from her closet.
Grandma: Oh, she likes shoes?
Me: Yes, she loves them. She brings them out to me and has me put them on her and then brings me another pair to put on.
Grandma: Oh, you should buy her some more.
Me: Yah, she already has 6 pairs, but you can never have too many shoes, right?
Grandma: Is she talking yet?
Me: She says “Mama” and that’s about it right now.
Grandma: Oh, she’s smart you know? You can tell by looking at her.

Or like this:

Me: Hi Grandma, whatcha doing?
Grandma: Where’s the baby?
Me: She’s right here, running around the house and bonking her head.
Grandma: She’s tough, you know?
Me: Yah, she’s a little tough one.
Grandma: Shit yah, she had to be living in China! She had to take care of herself.

The last time she saw Dani was on her way back from her hair appointment. She did an impromptu stop by the house and sat for about a half hour talking to Dani, watching her run around and bring out her shoes, commenting the entire time at how smart she was. As she left, she gave me a red envelope, instructing me to “go buy her some shoes.”

She was proud of my brother and I as well as her 2 great grandsons, Dustin and Dylan who fondly called her “Big Grandma.” As my parents were boxing up my Grandmother’s apartment, they came across a picture of Dustin holding a blue fin tuna he had caught and Dylan “helping” him hold it up. On the back, Grandma had written some notes about the boys.

About Dustin: “He is growing to be a very handsome boy. He is handsome like his Grandfather, Jim. They call him Jim, not Grandpa.”

About Dylan: “He is very funny. I find him amusing.”

I miss my Grandmother terribly. She was such a large part of our lives – physically and emotionally. She was not your traditional Chinese woman, nor was she your traditional, grandmotherly type. She smoked, gambled, had the mouth of a sailor and wasn’t afraid to use it! She leaves a large void in our lives. Thanksgiving and Christmas will not be the same without her homemade Chinese food, special occasions will be absent her wontons, our visual reminder of our Chinese heritage no longer present, but most of all we will miss our Big Grandma.

In lieu of flowers, donations are being made to Love Without Boundaries in my Grandmother's name. Dani was in several LWB programs, and without their intervention, education and assistance, we may not have our daughter here with us. It saddens me deeply that Dani will never know her Big Grandma, but I am SO very grateful that my Grandma was able to see her great granddaughter come home and spend a brief month and a half with her.