In a Moment

Dear Nathan,
A year ago today, you woke up in your orphanage, like you had done for as long as you could remember.

A year ago today, you waited for food.  I wonder if you had rice twice that day or if it was just once.  You didn't always get more than a bowl of rice and beans.

I wonder if that was a day where you got two bowls full.

That day you would have been sitting in that tiny carport with the dozens and dozens of other children there.  There was so little to do - not many toys, no place to run, no place to play.  I've often wondered if all the days blended together.  When it's always warm and you only have one season (to speak of) I imagine that sometimes life seems like one big day.

And yet that day was not just another day.

At 4:53 PM the earth moved and the buildings fell and the people started screaming.  In a moment, your orphanage collapsed.  We heard later that the aunties who were in the building just start throwing the children in the building out through the door.  Somehow they knew it was coming down and that inside was the least safe place to be at that moment.  God bless them, because all of the children in your orphanage survived the building collapse.

I wonder so often how terrified you were, Little Man.

We were told that the aunties just took the children they could grab and ran for safety.  I don't know where you went or what condition you were in while you were away.  I've often wondered if you were fed in the ensuing days.

Because it was days until you were where you should be again.  It was actually 10 days later that you were brought to be with the rest of the children from your orphanage.  By that time, your Papa was there and was able to smother you with love and make sure you were fed.  And in a moment you were part of a family again and would never, ever leave them again.

Some of the older children from your orphanage have finally started to talk about what they've endured and the heartache that caused them to be orphaned in the first place.  We'll never know what you went through and in some ways it might be easier for you because of that.

For the rest of us, we can't forget Haiti.  We mustn't forget her and her people and the mess that they're still in every day of their lives.

Haiti doesn't get someone to swoop her up in their arms and smother her with love and make sure her people eat.

We mustn't forget.

I love you.
Mama