A Special Meeting

Today we visited Lindsay's foster parents here in Jiaozuo. This couple took Lindsay to their home on weekends for about 2 years. She had a lot of good experiences with them, and when I met them on our adoption trip, it was clear they loved her a lot and were heartbroken at her leaving. Although I said we would come back for a visit, I am sure they did not expect to see her again. I would have loved to see their faces when our friend Lou Huan called them to say we were here! They were just thrilled to see Lindsay Tian Tian. We had a nice visit, using Lou Huan and their son as translators.


All of the Laurie kids took a turn at the pingpong table...no wonder the Chinese are so good at this sport! Their apartment is probably about half the size of our house in Florida, but we don't have a pingpong table in the living room!

I think this is the first time we have ever been inside a private home in China, so it was interesting to see. They live in an apartment/condo development much like we do. (Coincidentally it is right across the street from the school where Lindsay and Marissa go.) Just like ours, all the buildings are six stories high because anything higher requires an elevator. The foster family, however, lives on a far more humane third floor while we live on the sixth! Since they live there with their 16 year old son, it does look like a more adult home than where we live -- both here and in Florida. They had lovely furnishings and some nice artwork, in addition to the ping pong table. Marissa, however, was most impressed by the fact that they have a bathtub in the bathroom. I think she is plotting how to get an overnight invitation so she can take a real bath. :)

Probably the most touching thing we found were the marks on a wood column in the dining room chronicling the growth of their son and Lindsay over the years. It was very fun to watch the dad measure Lindsay and add a new mark. We all were very impressed at how much she has grown!!

Before our short visit ended they were inviting the girls to go swimming and all of us to go to the mountains and to join them for Chinese New Year celebrations. They also asked if they could visit us. While I would be happy to have them visit, I had Lou Huan explain our living situation. Somehow 19 children in a 1000 sq ft living space isn't too conducive to conversation. Despite that limitation I am sure we will have several visits with this family over the next four months.