A year ago today,

we met our son for the first time. We were so nervous and anxious. It was Thursday, August 5th, 2010. We had our stuff all packed up and ready to go the night before. We woke and showered and dressed and waited for the Holt staff to pick us up. When we had gotten into Ethiopia Tuesday night, we had an e-mail that Melkamu has in the hospital with pneumonia. Daniel had called the next morning to check on Melkamu, and the Holt staff said he was headed back to the care center and we could see him the next day, Thursday...a day earlier than expected.

When we walked into the care center, the toddlers were playing in the main room, and immediately surrounded us and were climbing all over us. Before we could get out from under them all, I turned around to see a nanny holding a little boy in a pink jacket with the hood up over his head. "Is this Melkamu?" I said. And there he was. I took him and held him, and pulled the hood back to see his face and head. We sat down with him and were still surrounded and being climbed on from all directions by the kids in the care center. After a few minutes, the toddlers were taken back to their room upstairs and the staff left and went about their business, and we had some nice, peaceful, quiet time to be together.

Looking back, my heart breaks for the little guy. He was so sick and not feeling well. Surely his hospitalization had been traumatic. He just gets back from the hospital and here come two strange looking people to turn everything upside down in his little world again. But, he is such a strong and determined little guy and he didn't let that slow him down for long.