one year

Last year on June 8 we touched down at YVR

and into the arms of family and some of our closest friends.

In between the packing today, we played outside in the dirt

eventually the hose came out and it became a mud puddle

a further testament to how far Zenya has come in the last year.

This girl who cried the first time I put her bare feet in the grass

who was terrified of anything creeping along in the dirt,

was up to her knees in the mud

squishing and giggling

running over to the hose to wash it all off

and then jumping back in.

Because this is what love does

It heals

it builds trust

it makes the space for an orphan who spent too many years taking care of herself

to put down that load

and open herself up to being taken care of by a mama.

Letting in light where before there was only dark

Letting a little girl be just that

little.