Missing Her

Its been twenty nine days since I've seen my little girl.

That's twenty nine days without smelling her hair, without seeing her dusty little toes peeking out of her too-small sandals. Twenty nine days without watching her run toward the orphanage gates when she sees our rusted blue van pull into the compound. Twenty nine days without feeling her arms tight around my waist and her breath in my ear as she whispers, "Love you mommy."

Twenty nine more days of her life that I've missed.

The reality is that we still have a while longer to wait. We don't know if it will be weeks or still months until she gets here, but we know without a doubt that this separation will eventually end.

....and I'll once again be smelling her clean, braided hair, and painting the nails on those toes that once peeked out of too-small sandals. There will be a day when I get to feel those arms around my waist every morning and when (lets face it) she'll be sarcastically whispering, "Love you mommy." thorough clenched teeth when I won't let her go to that PG-13 movie with her friends.

I may have missed many days of her life, but we have so many days left to live out together. I will never take that blessing for granted.