The orphanage & the spot where our boy was found

We visited the orphanage today. Two of the three families here in Changchun took their boys with them, however I certianly understand why you would not want to. I had a few tiny reservations about taking Caleb back there for the visit but I'm glad we all went. He knew exactly where he was when we were driving in the driveway of the place and he seemed a bit nervous once inside. He wanted me to carry him a lot.

We went thru several rooms, including the cafeteria where we got to give out the treats we brought as gifts. There were some handicapped older kids in there eating lunch which was very hard for me to see. It's heartbreaking to stand there with one little adopted guy in your arms and seeing other kids who will most likely never get to know what a true family life is like.

Mr. Caleb got very clingy at the end of the tour and would not want me to put him down. The director of the orphanage was pleased to see that but not nearly as pleased as Caleb's daddy!
The smile on that little dudes face as we left there and walked to the bus was as good of a feeling as I've ever known!

Later on, we went on a field trip in an attempt to find the places where these three boys were found; a hospital, a train station and a toll both where little Caleb was found. We also received a hand written letter from the man who found him. Note that the letter was not written to us, but rather just a letter he wrote explaining the situation. He took him in for a couple of weeks but for various reasons that I won't type in a public blog, could not keep him so he took him to the police station on our 15th anniversary in 2007, May 16th.

The toll booth has recently been tore down to build a new bridge. I find that fitting and a nice closing on a very sad story. Little Caleb has a family now and his finding place is gone.

I pray that God blesses the man who found him in ways that he has never known. We were hoping to find that fella today, but for whatever reasons, that was not to happen. So be it.

The area where the toll booth was located is an extremely poor area. I tried to take some pictures from the bus on the way to and from just to get an idea, but most of them didn't turn out very good.

What would a blogpost be without a good story? Here's one:
When we got out of the bus on the side of the highway, a man was walking across the highway carrying something I couldn't immediately identify. As we got closer, our guide walked right up to him and started asking him what he knew of the story of the toll booth, our little boy or if he
knew of anybody who could help. That's when I noticed that he was carrying a rooster. It's feet were tied with what looked like a heavy red rubber band and he was holding it by the legs, directly below the feet... or directly above the feet if you choose to think of said rooster,
right side up. One of the guys from another family that got out of the bus with us said, "Dude, that thing's still alive!". Sure enough, the rooster, at this point nicknamed "Supper", was indeed blinking and moving it's head. That's something you don't get a lot of in the greater Des
Moines metro...

Here's another:
On our way to the train station today, we were driving through an area where there are several local markets for whatever kind of goods the locals should want. There are lots of bicycle riders in China and these dudes can get creative on how to tote stuff to and fro. There was a guy on bike so old that it would have been disposed of in the mid 70's by American standards. He had a makeshift trailer with one tiny wheel on it and what was that trailer carrying? If you guessed an upside down rooster, still alive, you'd be wrong. However, if you guessed a brand new 52" flat screen television, you'd be right!

Kiss your brain!