Cora + Sarah = BFF Day!

 

 

Cora and Sarah have skyped two times (first one ended in sadness, 2nd one SO much better) and over the phone once.  Sarah’s mom, Avah’s mom and I have made a committment to keep the girls relationship alive as best we can, but I won’t lie, it’s a little nerve-wracking wondering, “Is this good for attachment?” But Sarah and Cora were BFF’s and roomates and almost sisters for so long that we knew we wanted to give it our best. Yesterday we met! The girls last saw each other a month ago at the orphanage. Though we got to meet Sarah, Grace had never met Cora, so what a fun day we had planned!

Cora was SO excited! We didn’t really start talking about it until the day before because our communication is limited and I didn’t want her unable to understand when we were meeting.  We took the boys to school and hit the road!

We arrived about a half hour before Sarah’s family and Cora patiently waited. Oh how girls differ from boys!

But soon enough I saw Grace pull up.  I pulled out my video camera and walked outside.  When Cora saw Sarah, she started yelling, “Soo Jung-ah!” and they instantly connected in a big hug.

And stayed connected.

We met at a children’s museum and the girls took to playing right away.

And figured out how water fountains work. A new thing for Cora!

Then we hopped in the van to go get lunch.

Sarah first realized we were drawing near the end and sat quiet for a little while.

Then, Cora realized when it was photo time.  She wasn’t having the idea of a photo.

It was time to take the 3 back to their van, so the kids grabbed hands and we were off.

SO SADLY Cora fell right after this photo was taken and banged up her knee. She cried SO hard and for SO long. Icecream didn’t even help. She cried for 15 minutes while we doctored her up.  She cried 10 minutes on the trip to McD’s for icecream and she cried the other 10 minutes to the parking lot of the museum.  She cried for the 10 minutes it took for Grace to get ready and pack up her kids.

It made the goodbye heartbreaking.

We stayed in the parking lot for a good 20 minutes crying together after they drove away. I think it was the “ouchie” that started the tears, but the full emotions of the day and the goodbye really prolonged it.

Our girls are such survivors. It’s easy sometimes to forget how much their little lives have changed. Saying goodbye to Sarah was very hard for Cora. Sarah prayed for Cora, wiped Cora’s tears with a kleenex, wiped her nose, kissed her ouchie and told her she loved her.

Broke my heart. They love each other so much.

Cora crashed in the car and woke up happy! We enjoyed her big oppa’s baseball game last night and will tonight, too!

We’re already planning our next reunion and will skype next week.

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