Pearl Turns 7

Today we celebrate Pearl's seventh birthday. It is a day of joy and fun. Pearl is still young enough that she doesn't seem to fully contemplate her origins. While Chloe asks a lot of questions, Pearl remains silent. Even though I think Pearl doesn't dwell on her past much, I know she must have questions too. But, I think she is afraid to ask.

I only bring this up now because to some extent, I am sad about today. Not sad that Pearl was born, but sad that we don't really know her actual date of birth. When she was left near the entrance to the orphanage in Chengdu, she was not a newborn. There was no note or identifying bit of information that she could take with her as she matures. Her age was estimated at three weeks, yet I suspect the orphanage staff picked the 8th as a birthday for her because eight is considered a lucky number in Chinese culture.

I often wonder why it took her birthmother (or other relative, perhaps a grandparent) as long as three weeks to leave her behind. Did they have to travel a long distance from the country to the big city where the orphanage was? Did they think something was wrong with her after awhile and decide that they couldn't care for her? The orphanage staff believed there was something wrong with her and that's how she ended up on a Special Needs adoption list. Today she is perfectly healthy. Did the birth family agonize over their decision and try to keep her? So many questions go through my head. I wonder what Pearl will think.

I may have mentioned to Pearl in the past that we don't know her exact birth date, but I didn't want to remind her today. For now, it is all still about goodness and celebration, and that's the way I want her to feel.

So today before school, I decided to take a couple of pictures of Pearl. Later I asked Chloe to join in and I took a picture of the happy sisters together. Pearl's party will be Saturday and she has chosen to have it at the local Rollerama. This should be fun!