Maria Comes Home

   And so it was that, on Dec. 13, 2001, we had Anguel skip a day of preschool so we could make the two-hour drive down to JFK Airport from our home.

    There we would meet the Blevinses, who drove up to New York overnight after Gary’s office Christmas party. They believed driving to their home in the Southeast would be better for Maria then another connecting flight.

    Besides, that way we would all finally get to meet in person — always a delightful experience when you’ve previously known each other only through phone and email contact.

    This we did very soon after getting to the airport. No sooner had we parked the car than we saw a big SUV with their state's plates go past and park a few rows down. 

    It was too much of a coincidence, and indeed it wasn’t. Dorothy, Gary and their daughters had caught up to us by the time we had to cross the road to the terminal, and so we all went in together.

    We had a couple of hours to pass before Susan’s plane came, and after figuring out when, exactly, it would arrive, we caught up with Susan and Dan’s mutual friend, who was also waiting for her, up on the lounge level where there was a nice view over Rockaway Bay and the planes coming in.

    Despite the visible increase in security after 9/11, with camouflage-clad National Guardsmen ambling about carrying M-16s, it was actually a very relaxed atmosphere in which we all got to know each other, had lunch and read the papers. Gary brought us some NASCAR-related souvenir items from where he worked.

    We had thought to bring our still and video cameras for the occasion, and took generous amounts of pictures.

    At length we spied a red-and-white Austrian Airlines jet come in and taxi down the runway. According to the flight info on the monitors, this was it.

     Maria’s becoming an American citizen was very important to the Blevinses.  With September 11 having only occurred two months prior to her arrival, “it seemed so fitting that her first minutes of being a citizen of the United States of America would be in the same area that brought us to the point that we cannot take our freedom for granted the way most Americans do.” Dorothy said to us.

     “New York City held a very symbolic meaning for us with Maria coming home.  We owe so much to those that died on 9-11 and for those that are fighting to keep our freedom daily because without those people she might not ever know the freedom that she now has an American.”

    It would, of course, take a while for the passengers to clear customs and immigration, especially Susan and Maria, so the Blevinses thought to check ahead with INS.

     The INS was accommodating.  They allowed all of them to be there when Maria came off the airplane. They explained to the INS officer that she was a newly adopted child and that it was a HUGE moment for them – like her birth – and that it was very important they see Maria become a citizen at that moment.

  Dorothy states: “They were so warm and welcoming after they felt that we were 'okay' to be there.”

    That left just four of us to wait in the big throng where people met whoever it was they were going to meet when they were finally clear.

    It took a while ... almost too long for Anguel, who began to run around and throw things for a while to amuse himself. There were more than two flights coming through, so we had no idea how long it would take for Susan, Maria and the Blevinses to appear.

    But finally, we spied a group of seven coming out — five faces we recognized, and two we didn’t at that time but knew instantly ... Susan and Maria! 

    After such a long time, the Blevinses’ adoption journey was over. Maria was in America. With them.

    We all embraced when they finally got behind the rope meant to hold us eager greeters back.

    They had actually had very little trouble with INS, Dorothy said. Maria was such a little charmer that she had actually gotten the officials to play with her a little bit!

    It wasn’t hard to see how. She had pretty much the same effect on us.

    She had a bandage on her forehead, the result of banging her head in their host’s apartment that very morning.  The light wasn’t on in the apartment, it was still early morning, and poor Maria tripped and hit her head on an end table!  Other than that she was OK.

     All the things Denise had seemed to imply she might not be able to do for a while, the things the Blevinses had worried about her getting to do, she was doing ... smiling, talking (about 15 words in Bulgarian), walking and eating. Susan had already said as much in email from Bulgaria.

    We all took the chance to get a good look at her and greet her. She often returned the favor by smiling, giggling and touching us. She was certainly overwhelmed, but not so much so that it masked an eagerness to see her new world.

    One person who really reacted to her positively was Anguel. For much of his first year home, whether at preschool or daycare, he had often been standoffish with other children his own age or thereabouts, a leftover from his orphanage experience.

    But he really reacted positively to Maria, almost as if he (and she, for that matter) could recognize each other as fellow members of the tribe, so to speak.

    He stared her right in the face, said her name — “Ma-REEEE-aaaah!!” — over and over with a dramatic flourish to it, and touched her and played with her hair back. It was a sight to behold.

    Of course, this happy scene couldn’t last forever. It was dark out already, and soon enough we all traipsed back out to the parking garage for our respective trips home.

    Maria had some initial adjustment problems once she got home, but today she is doing just fine, for the most part. The Blevinses were able to secure proper medical treatment for her conditions, which was a big help.

UPDATE

    At the time of this writing, Maria has been home nearly a year.  Since she has been home, Maria has faced many other challenges.  The family’s worst fears about her not being able to walk were groundless – she gets around on two sturdy legs.

    However, there are other issues that Maria is now facing, most likely as a result of her institutionalization for so long a period.

    I am going to let Dorothy explain this in her own words, for Maria is her daughter.

    “Maria does have more mental/developmental issues then what we were thinking when she first came home.  Some of the issues may require lifelong attention.  We are unsure if some of the issues come from adbandonment/attachment issues that can be seen in adopted children or children that do not come from a home that fosters attachment. 

    "We will never know how much the extended institutionalization plays a role other then the doctors do feel that that does play a role to some extent. 

    "We contacted Denise after Maria came home to see if she could assist us in getting more information on Maria that would relate to her daily routines.  We had thought that after Maria had arrived home that Denise had turned over a new leaf and with us. We trusted everyone at every turn until we are burned and once again as soon as she had told us how concerned she was over Maria she slammed us once again. We have not contacted her nor has she contacted us to check on Maria at all. 

    "We have received 3 letters from Sandi Harding about the post placements.  Maria received a birthday card, and what’s really funny, her name wasn’t even spelled correctly.

    "We have heard from Valeri as he has been checking on Maria and her progress and he seems to be genuinely interested in Maria’s well being and development.  He has even expressed great interest in visiting with us and seeing Maria when possible.  We look forward to one day that he is able to travel to America and to share our special little girl with him."

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