Reunion in the USA

The much anticipated reunion for the princess & her Ethiopian cousin/sister finally happened! It has been a long 3 months of waiting, but the princess has been amazing! She was both excited & nervous as the big day arrived! As we drove up the interstate on our way to Lexington, Kentucky, where we had arranged to meet, she was a little quiet but at peace for the most part. The closer we got, the more excited she got & the nerves seemed to melt away. Right before we arrived, the family called & we figured out that we drive the exact same vehicle, color & all. That made her so excited! She asked us to crank up "Party in the USA", & we found that so appropriate! The girls' first get together in America! Woohoo!

The girls were all smiles as they embraced & greeted each other. I just tried to keep from crying, as I had promised I would! We spent a quiet day together at the Kentucky Horse Park & the princess said she was so happy to simply be spending the day with her "sister". (The girls are technically first cousins but were raised together, as sisters, & who are we to change what they have always known each other to be. Yes, the princess knows they are cousins, but we have talked about how they will always be Ethiopian sisters in their hearts. In Ethiopia, terms for family relationships are very fluid. She was so relieved when we helped her know that she can continue to call her her "sister" even in America.)

The girls exchanged Christmas presents & the princess was so proud of the gift she chose for her sister & the gift her sister gave to her. Don't you just love the light in her sweet eyes as they exchanged gifts!

The conversations were limited between the girls. I'm sure they felt like they were in the spot-light & a little foreign to one another. They did enjoy playing tic-tac-to & playing with their moms' digital cameras together. :) It was a sweet day. I do think if we had it to do over again, we would have done a shorter meeting for the initial meeting & at a place where the girls could have some more private time with less pressure for conversation (we tried to find a fast-food place with a playground or a park but were unsuccessful). Lessons learned. I'm sure the meetings will get more & more enjoyable & relaxing as time goes by. Our experience with reuniting the princess with her BFF in Nashville, helps us know that this is likely. The first few times were very quiet...until they were able to play without the parents looking in on them & just be themselves. If anyone ever finds themselves in a similar situation, I would highly recommend doing a very brief reunion at the airport (mainly for the child's security of knowing that they will indeed get to reconnect) & then another brief meeting (maybe at park for picnic & playtime) a month or six weeks later. Then, increasing the length of the meetings gradually over time. That would allow for gradual reintroduction & processing of the experience. Just a thought...all that matters is that the girls have been reunited! The promise we made to our daughter & her Ethiopian family many, many months ago, has been fulfilled. Now we can write them a letter & send pictures of the girls together again! And, we can look forward to making many more memories for the girls together!