Letter to Kavanna

给Kavanna 的信件

Dear Kavanna,

I don’t know where you are right now, but sooner or later you’ll be home with us. In a sense, you’re going to be born twice. Not born again in the religious sense, but in your short life you will experience two completely different worlds and step from one life into another.

Your first birth will be in China… you’ll spend the first months of your life in an orphanage or a foster home. If it’s an orphanage, you’ll likely be surrounded by dozens of other children and grow accustomed to the din of voices raised in laughter, delight or protest. You’ll probably never leave the orphanage grounds. You may never ride in a car or see a dog or a park. If you’re in a foster home, you’ll probably experience what it’s like to be part of a family. Either way, I hope your caretakers give you lots of love and hugs and kisses. I hope you feel loved and safe and secure. I hope you get enough food to eat and that you’re warm enough and happy.

Your second birth will also be in China… it will start as soon as you meet me and Ariel and David, also known as mama and pei pei (big sister) and baba (daddy). I can’t imagine how it will feel to be ripped from the life you know and be placed in the arms of strangers. My hope is that with each passing minute, hour and day, we’ll become less like strangers to each other and more familiar... until we feel like family. You’ll come home to a vastly different world, with lots of space and all kinds of new people and creatures - like Roy-Boy and our extremely shy hermit crab, plus the bunny-rabbit family who feasts on our grass, and the ducks and turtles who live at the lake.

Our journey to you is taking longer than we’d like, but we know eventually we’ll be united. Then a new journey will begin for all of us. We are so excited to start a life with you! Your grandparents can’t wait to welcome you and either can all our friends.

Wherever you are, you’re already in our thoughts and our hearts.

Love, from your forever family—
Mommy, Daddy, and Ariel
P.S. If we are referred twins, this letter is to Mikayla, too!