Remembering Mayah

For those of you who are new to our story, in March of 2007 we were excitedly awaiting travel approval to adopt our 21-month-old daughter, Mayah. As a newborn, she was found in very weak condition, with a severe cleft of her lip and palate. At about 6 months of age, an organization called Love Without Boundaries provided her lip repair as well as much needed placement with loving foster parents. We received her picture and medical information in July of 2006. As others who have adopted can attest, it's nothing short of a miracle how a child can become so much a part of your family with only a few snapshots and a medical report. By December, Mayah's pictures were shamelessly plastered over grandma's refrigerator. Our 5-year-old's artwork depicted stick-figure Mayahs and Meagans holding hands and playing with toys. Her nursery was all but completed, her closet full of clothes and one wrapped Christmas gift waited for her. After a series of delays in the adoption process, on March 21, 2007 the Seeking Confirmation letter finally arrived. We quickly signed it and FedEx'ed it back, knowing that our travel approval would be coming in a few short weeks. Mayah died one day later on March 22, 2007.

Mayah is very much our daughter and always will be. If you stopped by our house, you would see her flower garden in the backyard. The pictures above just don't give it justice...hydrangea, lilac and butterfly bushes, bleeding heart, lily of the valley, glads, lamb's ear, ferns and hostas. And in the spring, tulips and hyacinths galore. Many of the bulbs and plants were lovingly placed by the friends and family cheering her home. There is a bench there where I like to pray. Around here, we don't like to go too long without saying her name. As much as I wish she were here, I know that my love could never compare with the love that is lavished on her in heaven. From what I read about God, I firmly believe that orphans have a special reward waiting for them. They are the heroes of heaven. I don't know that I would snatch her away from that, even if I could.

In her short life, this child impacted us and those close to us to a magnitude that we probably don't yet comprehend. And there are many more children like her, waiting to wrap their smile around our hearts, ready to change our lives if we give them a chance. Sadly, too many kids get passed over for adoption time and time again because they didn't happen to be born with perfect, strong bodies. I would like to think that part of our daughter's purpose here on Earth was to inspire people to be the family these kids so desperately need. No child should have to die without a mother or father. I know that it's hard to believe that a child who is physically, mentally or emotionally "damaged" could ever give anything back to us. You would be surprised.