Gabby Braner turned 3 yesterday! Now 3 yr old birthdays happen throughout the world all the time. It's a fun celebration of life for the sweetest most innocent and cutest little people on the planet. BUT...this little girls special day is particularly momentous. Gabby came into the family in a most unusual way. She did not arrive in a sterile hospital birthing unit surrounded by all the modern technology known to woman. She entered this grandmothers heart through the long corridor of the Tulsa International Airport. On that day her mommy was returning WITH her after a long flight and a several week ordeal of meetings, tears, paperwork, more meetings and more tears in Rwanda, Africa. I caught my first glimpse of her lying in her stroller, wide eyed and very content in her new surroundings. She was 6 months old and very tiny. I was in love with her from that first moment!!! Her new very white and very American siblings swooped in on her to meet her for the very first time. I watched the birth of family right there in the airport at the baggage claim.
For whatever reason, shortly after she was born her birth mother left her at the gate of an orphanage. Perhaps that was all she knew to do to keep her baby girl alive. The guards heard crying on that cold night but dismissed it as the usual sounds of nearby children. The next morning baby Gabby was discovered and delivered to the caring staff. She spent her early days waiting...waiting for a new mommy to wrap her arms around her.
Gabby is now 3, absolutely delightful and I cannot imagine this family without her. She is still tiny, but healthy and happy. She thrills us all with her big liquid eyes, bright smile and lightning speed vocabulary! How did we live before Gabby?
During those first few months as I held her and squeezed out all the joy I could possibly absorb, I sometimes wondered, "where did you come from sweet baby girl?" The answer? "From heaven!"
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