Hello, Goodbye....a story of friendship rekindled

This is the story of two little girls that grew up in an orphanage in Guangdong, China

When Lily was almost 6 she was put on Lifeline's waiting child list along with her best friend,

Lyla.

To see this picture and to see Lily's picture today is remarkable.  We never saw her smile in the few pictures that we had of her.  Oh how I looked at this picture trying to imagine her life and what she was feeling.

This picture is actually from a short video that we had of both girls.  I was told that the girls were best friends.  When I heard this I knew that I would try to find out who was going to adopt Lyla and hope that they would be interested in keeping in touch.

Through the help of our agency we connected. We have been blessed to not only be able to keep these two little girls in touch but to become friends with her parents and her brother.

We don't know a lot about their lives in the orphanage, but from their personalities, I would guess that Lyla was the nurturer and Lily was the one that helped them survive.

Our goal has been to keep these girls in touch, since they have been like sisters.  In fact they have been sisters longer than Lily has been sisters with Emma, Meilynn, and Jilliana.

But with keeping in touch the girls have had several chances to say hello again, and good-bye.  And here is where the difference in their personalities really shows.  Saying good-bye is difficult for Lyla.  It breaks my heart that she is so sad everytime we say good-bye.  And it breaks my heart that Lily has had to learn to cope with so much that saying good-bye doesn't appear to be hard for her.  She has had to learn to survive and letting something like your best friend go, cannot break her.  Life goes on.  How many times did these little girls have to say good-bye to their friends through the years?

 Lily saying good-bye to Lyla at the Orphanage

Lily and I travel to Arkansas in August 2010.  The girls say hello after being apart for 6 months.

Good-bye in Arkansas,  August 2010

Hello in California in December 2010

Good-Bye December 2010

Hello in California July 2011

Goodbye in California July 2011

Hello in California March 2012

There she is!

So happy to see each other again!

We had such a great few days together!  There was a lot of good food to try.  Here the girls show their victory pose from China.

Lyla with Destiny

We took the train to the museum.

Daddy resting!  Another motorcycle injury!

We ate a lot of ice cream!

 More food!

And all too soon it was time to say good-bye again!  The most exciting thing about this trip was that Lyla and Lily were able to communicate with each other.  In the past we had to prompt their conversations since they were still getting used to English.  This time was different.  We were excited to hear them talking and having fun together.

I am looking forward to the next time we see them again.  Hopefully this summer!

Lyla, Lily, and Emma

Good-Bye March 2012

Next post, Spring Break 2012