I'd never seen someone so lost in the place that they call home. Her eyes were devoid of light, yet they were still searching.
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When my husband and I first looked for a child to call our own, my first idea was to adopt a baby. A little girl. We traveled together to find the perfect baby, the perfect child. We found and orphanage in the paper, so we traveled there.
As my husband and I walked in together we saw two other families mingling with the smallest of small. Four and three year olds, some of the six year olds were holding a babies. They all had hope in their eyes.
Even further off we saw a family chatting with some seven and eight year olds, they seemed uninterested in the younger kids.
None of them pulled me to them to me.
Then I saw her.
Off in the back corner, away from all the others. Dirty blonde hair, brown eyes. A frown on her face as she twiddled her thumbs. She looked around fourteen.
She pulled me to her.
I grabbed my husband's hands and moved through the crowd to her.
She looked up at me, then looked away. She didn't think I was there for her.
Then I sat down next to her.
"Hi! I'm Joanne," I said to her, "And this is my husband Martin,"
"Hi. I'm Jessie," She said blankly.
What is running through her head right now?
So we talked, even though she was reluctant.We talked about her dreams, her best school subjects,if she liked it there, if she wanted to get out of there.
She did want to get out of there.
So we took her.
We took her because she mattered. The age of the child doesn't mater. She was a person, and we wanted to take her home.
Taking Jessie home was the best choice I have ever made. She was so special to me. She was beautiful, and she was my daughter.
