A post by our artist Laura Kirkland (Part 2 of 2)
We met Lucy for the first time on July 29, 2013. Sean, our
oldest daughter, Zoe, and I went to China to adopt her. We were gone two weeks,
returning home on August 8. While in China we were in awe of the fact that you
could walk into a room in the civil affairs office and be handed the child that
you had only seen in pictures for the last nine months. Just an hour later, she
walked out of that building with us hand in hand, and never looked back. She
knew we were her family. She embraced, trusted and loved us in a way that was authentic.
On August 6, nine months from the day we had received approval to adopt her, we
took an oath to say we would love Lucy as our own and never abandon her.
That, too, was miraculous.
A few days after we returned home, we went to visit our ENT
doctor to find out more about Lucy’s deafness. As it turns out, Zoe happens to
have a classmate (who is also adopted) whose mother is the surgery nurse at
Children’s Healthcare for our ENT. She was able to help us meet with our doctor
right away (another miracle). We discovered that Lucy was in fact, profoundly
deaf. She could not hear anything without the help of hearing aids. Even loud
banging noises sounded very soft to her. From the first day we met her we
started teaching her sign language and found she was very expressive and
unbelievably smart -- it was amazing how much we could communicate! After the
first few weeks with Lucy, she could say, “I … Love… YOU!” Every night, I would
hold up the sign for “I love you,” and we would work on the words together --shaping
her mouth, her feeling my lips with her fingers.
After a series of tests, we discovered that Lucy was a
candidate for cochlear implants. Although we saw this as yet another miracle
for Lucy, we needed to gather information and make a decision quickly. Most deaf
children who choose the road to listening and spoken language receive cochlear
implants as early as age one. Lucy was already four years old. After your brain
does not experience sound for between four and seven years, it starts to
atrophy in that area and focuses energy on strengthening other areas in order
to adapt. If we did decide to go the cochlear route with Lucy, it would require
a lot of therapy and education before she would be able to rely on listening
and spoken language to communicate.
We did our research and found that not only is there a Deaf
and Hard of Hearing pre-k in our school district, but that the educators and
specialists at this pre-k are incredible. In fact, the woman who would be
Lucy’s teacher worked at the Atlanta Speech School for years as a coordinator, and
trained instructors all over the country how to teach deaf and hard of hearing
kids to listen and speak. She even authored books on the subject.
What incredible provision for Lucy! And, just five minutes
down the street from the school my other kids attend.
Lucy received her first cochlear implant on December 23,
2013 and had it activated on January 7, 2014. On the day it was activated (or
turned on), Lucy had an incredible response! Not only did she demonstrate the
ability to hear sounds, but she liked what she heard! We have been
progressively turning up the programs over the last two months and not only can
Lucy hear us speak, she is starting to speak some words herself.
Miraculous.
Lucy’s grafting into our family has been nothing short of a
miracle. It has taken some time – she has been home seven months now – but the
transition went as easily as humanly possible. It truly feels like she has been
with us since the beginning of our family. She is our own. Grafted in, but one
of our own.
A few weeks ago, our babysitter picked Lucy up from school while
I was at work. Lucy was visibly upset
that it was not me who was picking her up, so she refused to get into her car
seat -- she can be strong willed at times. We were able to FaceTime so I could
sign to Lucy to get into her seat and to come see me at home. She got right
into her seat and buckled up. Oh, the benefits of modern technology! As soon as
they arrived home, Lucy busted through the front door, ran and jumped up in my
arms, looked at me and verbally said, “I… Love…. YOU!”
Our story has really just begun, but this little girl has
stolen our hearts. We cannot wait to see where the path leads next.
We hope Laura’s story of adoption has inspired you and has
warmed your heart as much as it did ours. Take a look at the adoption products Laura designed on our website.
