Wednesday night - We finished getting the final piece of the puzzle which was Stas' passport, and then we headed over to say goodbye to the grandparents.. not really looking forward to the visit as we were certain it would be an emotional night for all. We arrived to find grandma waiting outside for us. She had been cooking all day. They have a small house with an outside area where they grow their own grapes and vegetables. Also had about a dozen chickens and a dog, cat and turtle.
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| this very mature grape vine covered the entrance into the home |
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| puppy dog... very friendly |
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| Me and Grandpa - although he looks sad, he was quite happy and proud to show me his house |
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| turtle? maybe for turtle soup later?? |
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| fresh eggs every morning.. |
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| Allena and the kitty.. |
We were warmly greeted into their home and they were very happy to see us. Grandma had been cooking all day and quickly got us started into the first course of soup (Boursch). Then she brought out the fresh vegetables, potato dumplings, stuffed peppers, sausage etc... We've been eating in the "U" for almost 4 weeks now and this was by far the best meal wehave had.
Grandpa wanted to toast us and he pulled out the cognac and did three quick toasts to family, safe travel and health... apparently a Ukraine custom to toast three times. Darcy made the mistake of only taking half the shot on the first one and they quickly told her that if you leave any in the glass, it means tears. After we polished off the cognac, grandpa pulled out his homemade wine he made from his grapes.. this was a sweet wine I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have liked, but being the polite guest, I finished every glass grandpa poured for me. The supply seemed endless!
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| For a man that says he doesn't drink, he sure fooled me... |
We then met Stas's cousin Lena. She is at the University and 20 years old studying psychology and living at the grandparents house during the week while she attends classes. Her parents (Stas's aunt and uncle) live 30 minutes away, so Lena spends a lot of time at the grandparents. She is beautiful,very sweet and has a great relationship with Stas and Allena...
All in all, it was an excellent meal and we felt very welcomed. They seemed very "Italian" to us as they continued to refill our plates and top off our wine . They could not have bben more kind, hospitable or loving!
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| Our new 'extended' family | |
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Once the meal was over, the harder conversations began. Grandma wanted to know if we would come back for Allena and our interpreter tried to explain just how that would work Allena would have to be put into the system for a year as an orphan but the grandparents could maintain custody of her until they were no longer able. At any point after that year, we could in theory, come back and adopt her. They also wanted to know if we would come back to Ukraine to see Stas...We said to pray for good fortune for us, and God-willing, we would love to come back for a visit.
Fortunately, it got too dark for us to go to the cemetery to visit the dad's grave. I'm pretty sure this was more for grandparents benefit anyway, and not for Stas', as he did not appear eager to go.
We then talked about Skype and how Stas and Allena could keep in touch over the internet. After they observed our skype video chats with with Kayla and Ashley, they seemed excited to have such an opportunity to stay in touch...We are currently trying to figure out a way to help them get a laptop so we can make this happen,, it seems a little crazy to split these two up..
So after 5 hours of eating, drinking and talking, it was time for us to go. Unexpectedly, they wanted to go to the train station to say goodbye.
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at the train station waiting on the train... lots of tears
Stas had pretty much checked out while grandma and grandpa had tears running down their faces. I guess after so many tragedies in his life, this was the best way he knew how to deal with it.. A brutal goodbye, grandma and grandpa walking by the side of the train, waving, crying and certainly regretting their decision to ever let Stas go. As we later asked Stas about the difficulty of this day and who he will miss, he never mentioned his grandparents or parents or even friends- but only his sister, Allena.
After another all night train ride, (our 4th!), we arrived in Kiev the next morning at 10am, ready to go to work. We headed to the American Embassy for our adoption appointment and the meeting went very smoothly. We have one more interview tomorrow at 2pm and a medical appointment for Stas and then we are released to come back to America. Flight leaves at 5am Saturday morning and arrives in Roanoke at 7:17pm Saturday night. This chapter is almost over, but certainly our story with our new son is just beginning...can't wait to get back to America.
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