By Terry R. Cassreino
NANCHANG, China - Cries of orphaned baby girls poured from behind the doors at the end of the hall on the first floor of the Gloria Hotel on the banks of the Gan River.
Meanwhile, nervous parents - including me and my wife - waited for representatives with Holt International Children’s Services to call our names so we could meet our adopted daughters.
One family entered the room. Then another. Then another. The cries increased. The flash of cameras popped in the air. And video cameras recorded every minute.
Then the Holt representative walked from the room.
“Let’s see,” she said in heavily accented English as she turned to me. “The Cassreino family. Pam and Terry. You’re next.”
My heart skipped. It was about 4:15 p.m. local time.
In one brief second, the long-held dream of me and Pam to raise a family was about to begin. After years of unsuccessful attempts to have our own child, we were about to adopt.
And it was just as “natural” as having our own child. It sure seemed that way as Pam and I entered the room to get Cao Ai Hua, a baby girl abandoned by her mother on April 6, 2005.
Ai Hua cried and cried and cried, holding as tightly as she could to a square cracker she wouldn‘t let go and periodically held to her mouth to taste.
She came to me first, just like the folks at Holt said would likely happen. And then she went to Pam minutes later. Pam and I were stunned
All around us, babies were being united with other Holt families. Most were crying their lungs out, probably wondering what was going on and why they were with strange people.
Ai Hua went through her own fits. She cried and stopped. Cried and stopped. Cried and stopped. Then Pam, Ai Hua and I trudged back to our room that overlooks the Gan.
Later, Pam took Ai Hua for a walk around the hotel in a baby carrier. Ai Hua still held tightly to her cracker - the same one she had when we got her about an hour earlier.
Now the fun starts. I have tons of paperwork to complete for the Chinese government. And Pam and I have to adjust to having a child and being parents.
And Ai Hua, who we will name Camryn Ai Hua Cassreino, will gradually get used to us, get used to our strange language and then get used to our families.
Today, 10 Holt families here in Nanchang took a giant leap of faith and made a huge commitment to themselves and to the young girls who otherwise might not have had a future.
And like us, many found strength in God - who we believe guided us here, prodded us and helped us make the decision to save a child who needs a family.
Pam and I began our journey of faith as a marred couple on May 15, 1999. We continue it today, April 3, 2006, in a city thousands of miles away from our home in Mississippi.
As we waited anxiously outside that door with other Holt families shortly after 4 p.m., we knew something special was about to happen. That was confirmed by eight simple words.
“The Cassreino family. Pam and Terry. You’re next.”
Photos and text copyright 2006 by Terry R. Cassreino.
Wonderful perspective!! :)
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