I remember my first Mother’s Day with Vale in May, 2001. He was 17 months old and had been in the US for only a few weeks. Since we barely knew each other, there were so many new adjustments for the two of us. He clung to my neck like a scared little baby monkey refusing to let me out of his sight. Plastic table ware was a novelty for Vale. He called his juice cup, “appa”, the Romanian word for “water”, and downed several gallons of apple juice each week. He also insisted he sleep with his novelty cup and “appa” instead of a cuddly stuffed animal. I weaned him from his Romanian babysitter, American Music TV, to Christian children’s videos and music from which he immediately loved and learned to speak English.
In those early days, Vale watched me put on my makeup each morning and mimicked my actions by dabbing a powder puff on his cheeks. He was thrilled to help me select my ear rings and other jewelry I should wear for the day. He enjoyed brushing my hair,always being eager to please.
I’ll never forget that first week of summer during one of our trips to Randalls when he proudly confessed to the grocery store cashier that I was his Mommy! He was proud of his new mother and I was very proud to have such a spectacular son! We were meant for each other and it was obvious to everyone in our world that he was a very special child that had been given a second chance at life. If he had remained in Romania much longer, his fate would have been sealed to remain forever an orphan. It was just 2 weeks after we arrived home from Romania, their government began to announce their impending decision to discontinue all international adoptions. They wanted to improve their economic trade situation with Europe and the European Union did not favor the fact that Romania could not take care of its orphans. To this day, Romania remains closed to international adoptions.
Week three at the Ranch: On Monday, I called Justin to find out about Vale’s weekend. He said he had not been at the ranch over the weekend and he would find out some information and get back with me. Within two hours, he was calling me to let me know he had spent time with Vale during lunch. When Vale was told I was asking about him, his eye’s teared and he said that he missed his mother and home very much. Justin reported that Vale was looking forward to our first phone call on Friday and further explained that many of the boys at the ranch are so disconnected from their feelings and have such severe attachment disorders that they are not eager to re-connect with home and many of them show few signs of being homesick. He reassured me that Vale had a great desire to talk to me and re-connect after three weeks of being separated.
On Tuesday, Tad emailed me pictures of Vale on one of the High Top ponies being prepared to be ridden by students. Seeing Vale sitting on the horse with a big smile was a terrific encouragement to me. I could see that he is doing well.
Friday evening I received a call from Vale’s new case manager, named Dave. He is assigned to Vale to ensure his immediate needs are properly addressed. He reminds Vale to brush his teeth, put on his jacket when it is cold, and takes special interest in his general well being. He told me that he has enjoyed getting to know Vale. He said Vale is respectful to him and has a big heart. Dave mentioned the daily chore Vale has been assigned is vacuuming. He won’t be able to progress to more popular chores like feeding the animals until he has mastered the art of vacuuming and so far he has been working at it for three weeks.
When Vale got on the other end of the phone, I could tell he was choking back the tears. He said he missed us and wanted to come home. He told us there were 3 incidents of earthquake tremors over the last weeks. However, several weeks ago, I noticed on a web page of Koosharem’s history that earthquakes rating a 4.0 are common for the area.
He wanted me to remind him of why he is at the ranch. I don’t think he is quite certain as to the reason, but the longer he is there, the more apparent it will become to him. He told me they cut his hair short and complained that his school wasn’t like Stanley. He requested more books because he said he has read all the ones I initially sent him and asked that I would write more letters to him. I reminded him to read his daily Bible devotion and he said he would do it during free time since they were not allowed to read in bed before going to sleep.
It was good to hear directly from him and from now on, as long as he doesn’t have any infractions for the week, he will be able to call home on Friday evenings. We are excited to see how he will continue to engage in the program and learn from his time at the ranch. So far, so good!
In those early days, Vale watched me put on my makeup each morning and mimicked my actions by dabbing a powder puff on his cheeks. He was thrilled to help me select my ear rings and other jewelry I should wear for the day. He enjoyed brushing my hair,always being eager to please.
I’ll never forget that first week of summer during one of our trips to Randalls when he proudly confessed to the grocery store cashier that I was his Mommy! He was proud of his new mother and I was very proud to have such a spectacular son! We were meant for each other and it was obvious to everyone in our world that he was a very special child that had been given a second chance at life. If he had remained in Romania much longer, his fate would have been sealed to remain forever an orphan. It was just 2 weeks after we arrived home from Romania, their government began to announce their impending decision to discontinue all international adoptions. They wanted to improve their economic trade situation with Europe and the European Union did not favor the fact that Romania could not take care of its orphans. To this day, Romania remains closed to international adoptions.
Week three at the Ranch: On Monday, I called Justin to find out about Vale’s weekend. He said he had not been at the ranch over the weekend and he would find out some information and get back with me. Within two hours, he was calling me to let me know he had spent time with Vale during lunch. When Vale was told I was asking about him, his eye’s teared and he said that he missed his mother and home very much. Justin reported that Vale was looking forward to our first phone call on Friday and further explained that many of the boys at the ranch are so disconnected from their feelings and have such severe attachment disorders that they are not eager to re-connect with home and many of them show few signs of being homesick. He reassured me that Vale had a great desire to talk to me and re-connect after three weeks of being separated.
On Tuesday, Tad emailed me pictures of Vale on one of the High Top ponies being prepared to be ridden by students. Seeing Vale sitting on the horse with a big smile was a terrific encouragement to me. I could see that he is doing well.
Friday evening I received a call from Vale’s new case manager, named Dave. He is assigned to Vale to ensure his immediate needs are properly addressed. He reminds Vale to brush his teeth, put on his jacket when it is cold, and takes special interest in his general well being. He told me that he has enjoyed getting to know Vale. He said Vale is respectful to him and has a big heart. Dave mentioned the daily chore Vale has been assigned is vacuuming. He won’t be able to progress to more popular chores like feeding the animals until he has mastered the art of vacuuming and so far he has been working at it for three weeks.
When Vale got on the other end of the phone, I could tell he was choking back the tears. He said he missed us and wanted to come home. He told us there were 3 incidents of earthquake tremors over the last weeks. However, several weeks ago, I noticed on a web page of Koosharem’s history that earthquakes rating a 4.0 are common for the area.
He wanted me to remind him of why he is at the ranch. I don’t think he is quite certain as to the reason, but the longer he is there, the more apparent it will become to him. He told me they cut his hair short and complained that his school wasn’t like Stanley. He requested more books because he said he has read all the ones I initially sent him and asked that I would write more letters to him. I reminded him to read his daily Bible devotion and he said he would do it during free time since they were not allowed to read in bed before going to sleep.
It was good to hear directly from him and from now on, as long as he doesn’t have any infractions for the week, he will be able to call home on Friday evenings. We are excited to see how he will continue to engage in the program and learn from his time at the ranch. So far, so good!
He looks great. Such encouraging words. Send his address when you think it is ok to write to him.
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