Goodbye Party

Day 4

Vennela lived in a group foster home with 15 other girls, younger (10 and under) downstairs with her, and older upstairs. Many of the girls are in school (which is amazing and due to the advocacy of Sarah's Covenant!) so her goodbye party was set for late afternoon, after they got home from school. We enjoyed a slow, lazy morning after the packed last few days, and then headed over an hour before the party so we could take Vennela to another home to say goodbye to a few of her friends there. Vennela's foster home has several apartments in a neighborhood, each with a handful of caregivers, teachers and other staff, and a group of kids. She was previously in a toddler home of both boys and girls, but earlier this year moved to a girls home. A couple of boys she was friends with also moved to a boys home, so we went to see them and say goodbye. When we walked in we asked for "C" and he wandered into the room, stopped short and called "Vennela!" Then ran over to hug her. They spent the next half an hour walking around holding hands and jabbering away. Every time Geoff took a photo of the two of them, C would ask to see it on the back of the camera, then would touch the picture and then kiss the tips of his fingers (like a tiny Italian grandfather). Before we left he put a toy in her backpack and said "Vennela, this is for you." 

C is eligible for adoption, has a completed file and is waiting for a brave family to say yes! He has a medical diagnosis, but believe me, he is so completely precious and so much more than a diagnosis. We also saw her buddy G who was one of the older kids when they were in the toddler room together.

We then went upstairs to the home for kids with vision impairment and cerebral palsy to see her buddy T; they attended preschool together (unfortunately I didn't get any photos of them on my phone, they're all on Geoff's camera!)

We headed back to Vennela's home for the party, and everyone was waiting for us dressed in their party best. Vennela got back into her spectacular pink dress from court day, and they brought out a cake. First the foster mom from another home, Colleen, talked about what a gift Vennela has been to all of them, and they're so glad she'll be a gift to her family now. She said how they're happy for Vennela, but also a little sad, and that's ok (at this point I'm weeping). She invited any of the girls up to pray, and three of the older girls came up and prayed for her in Telugu (the local dialect). Then they cut the cake, and many of the staff members came up and fed a bit to Vennela and smashed a bit on her face (I'm told this is a custom with cake in India!). 

Then all the kids for cake, and we have some gifts to the caregivers and staff at her home, and gave gifts for the kids to the caregiver to pass out later (since it included candy and they didn't need more sugar). We got photos of V with each of the staff, and then prepared to leave. We did our best to thank everyone, but we were totally overwhelmed at that point. Then V's closest caregiver asked for one more photo, and she began crying as she prayed over V (and now I was a mess of tears) and I told her thank you over and over for taking such good care of Vennela. Words felt totally inadequate. It's truly a huge gift that she was in a place where she was loved. We walked out carrying our pink puff ball and took a car home. 

I won't say much about that first night, except to say that when kids are loved, they have someone to miss when they leave, and V grieved hard for all she was losing. Eventually we all fell asleep.