2009 has changed me. It has been a year of struggle, victory, and in the end… of complete thankfulness for all of the good things that I have in life. Living in America is one of those good things. Living with a family that loves me unconditionally is another. One of the lessons that I learned from this last year was to redouble my efforts to pay it forward and to give back.
I received an email last Sunday night from my friend Nancy Schafer that her efforts to host a child from an orphanage in the Ukraine had paid off and that 11 year old Natasha would be flying here on the 16th of December for an 18 day stay and hopefully to find an adoptive home here in the USA.
My mind raced back to my own family and then directly back to Greg’s Ramblin Gamblin Willy story about Anastasia. I am not a guy that likes Latin much and this to date was my favorite post that Greg has written. If you have not read it yet, please do. If you have, it is worth another read.
“Do your worst. I will not kneel.” has become a mantra that has stayed with me. And now when I thought of an 11 year old flying over 24 hours straight with no parents to meet an unknown person (as great and kind as I know Nancy is, she is an unknown to Natasha) I knew that I must try to help out in my own small way to make her stay here more enjoyable and hopefully help raise enough awareness so that she might enjoy the blessings that I have:
Living with a family that loves her.
Living in a free country.
Being free from the restraints of a caste system so that her dreams can in fact become a reality.
For those who may not think that America is truly the land of opportunity, I would simply contend that we build fences to keep people out while others build those same fences to keep people in. People are dying to get INTO our ‘hood. We are all immigrants.
When I see a chance for a child to have a better life here, it inspires me to take action.
That night I bought a domain and put up a blog. NatashasVisit.com It is a small effort, but my way of trying to help out.
What is needed here is not money. It is awareness. And it is a few kind words from friends all over America on a “welcome to America” card so that an 11 year old knows she is loved.. If you could help me with the following (since Natasha arrived last night), I would consider it a personal favor:
1. Drop by the blog and go to the “Sign Natasha’s card” page and drop her a note, welcoming her to America. (You will be sent a confirmation email to make sure you are not a spammer. They are immediately deleted by me and not given out to anyone.)
2. Please pass the word along via social media, blogs, or whatever. The more people hear about her, the better the odds of her being adopted. And that is the goal.
3. Take a second to view the video of her singing with a couple of friends in the orphanage in the Ukraine. She is the one on the right. It will make you hug your kids tighter and hopefully make this Christmas a brighter and happier holiday. It has for me.
Thanks in advance for the help with this if you can. Merry Christmas to each and every one of you.
James Boyer says:
What an incredibly nice thing to be doing for this 11 year old girl from the Ukrain. We have an 11 year old boy, adopted from the Ukrain when he was 2.5 years old. Though it has been a struggle and a challenge I would not change what this child has done for our lives as well as what we have been able to do for his life.
I wish this 11 year old girl all the best, and pray that a good home will be found for her.
Happy Holidays.
Jim
December 17, 2009 — 6:07 am
Teri Lussier says:
Eric-
Just- beautiful.
December 17, 2009 — 6:32 am
Greg Swann says:
Bless you, sir. This is a great thing you’re doing. I’ve passed your post along to two of our favorite clients, Jurij and Tatania Pawlenko, two brave, bright, burning souls who managed to escape the Soviet Ukraine as teenagers.
December 17, 2009 — 8:00 am
Ashlee says:
Great post! What a blessing for that little girl. Hoping and praying that she finds a home! What a great Christmas present that would be!
December 17, 2009 — 9:15 am
Julia says:
Thanks for publicizing Natasha’s case. As the adoptive mom of an older child, I know how hard it can be to find families for kids who aren’t babies.
December 17, 2009 — 2:11 pm
Tom Vanderwell says:
Eric,
As a parent of two adopted children and a board member for an orphanage in Haiti, I just want to say thank you for making a difference in the life of an orphan.
If more people would stand up and make a difference for one child, what a great thing that would be.
Tom
December 17, 2009 — 6:53 pm
Michelle Nichols says:
What a great post. We adopted a 4 1/2 year old from Texas. They’re all God’s children, and they all deserve a home – and a hug. I started Global Hug Your Kids Day in 2008. We lost our son Mark suddenly to brain cancer in 1998. He was 8 1/2 years old. Maybe you’d like to have an event in YOUR town for the holiday in 2010. It’ll be Monday, July 19. Contact me via http://www.hugyourkidstoday.com or for more info. I’m hoping to get families all over the US / world? to have events in honor of their wonderful children on that day.
December 23, 2009 — 12:15 am
Olga St. Pierre says:
Eric,
A superb idea to set up a blog. While reading your article I did not realize that one can host an orphan here for a period of time and help him or her find a loving family. I will be looking into it further myself.
As an Immigrant from St. Petersburg, Russia (I came to US at the age of 15), every holiday, my family and I make a toast to “US, the land of opportunities”. There is nowhere else I would rather live.
If Nancy has any difficulties communicating with Natashen’ka (a loving version of the first name), she can contact me any time. I am fluent in Russian.
Happy Holidays!
Olga
December 27, 2009 — 9:34 pm
Eric Blackwell says:
@Olga – Bless you and thanks!
@Michelle – We may well do that!
@Tom – Again, just a small way to do my part. It is awesome that you guys have adopted. I am sure it has been a great thing in your life as well as your childrens’.
December 28, 2009 — 7:37 am