Humble Beginnings the Birthday Speech

Honey today is your birthday. Today all of these people who are around you are our friends; they are also your new friends. You have come a tremendous distance in just one year. From a basket wrapped tight in blankets to family that will sacrifice everything so you will never want for anything.

Your journey to us began a year ago today. We know precious little of what happened that day but the journey that you started that day is similar to that of many others, though each is unique in its own way. With what we don’t know of life I always like to fill the blanks with fiction to paint a beautiful picture of what ifs and I wanted to do that today for all of those present.

It was a cool morning and the cries of a newborn emanated from the room. Meihui was in tears and all who were present assumed that it was the result of a difficult labor. But Minzhe knew that though she had been strong all these months knowing that they were doing what was best for their child her strength was now failing. She held her baby girl briefly and whispered in her ears “Always be strong, little piglet, and you will always find your way.”

Minzhe took their baby girl and wrapped her in blankets to keep her warm in the cool morning air. He wrote on a small piece of paper her date of birth and pinned the paper to her blankets. His cousin drove him into town where they found a nice looking house that as they passed by the lights turned on. Minzhe told his cousin to stop and he slowly opened the door to the truck not wanting to wake the baby by the squeak of the door.

He walked up to the door and quietly laid the basket in front of the door. He calmly walked back to the car with a tear streaming down his face. His cousin drove the car around the corner and Minzhe got out of the car once again and stood at the corner and waited. A short while later his baby girl began to cry; whether from hunger or loss her cries echoed down the street. Just when Minzhe thought he could handle no more and was about to run to her the door opened.

An elderly lady opened the door and looked down to see the crying baby. She looked in both directions to see if anyone was around but other than a flutter out of the corner of the eye nothing was stirring. She quickly picked up the basked and carried the baby into the house. She wasn’t born yesterday so of course she heard of people abandoning children but this was the first she had seen. She calmly got dressed and carried the basket tight in her arms to the Yugan County police office.

Pengfei was just pouring his tea when Liling walked in the door. He quickly noticed the basket in her arms and knew that meant that his tea would have to wait. In his short few years with the police department he had walked the path to the orphanage many times. The baby was crying an unbelievable amount and all he could think about was that he wished he was back in his office with his hot tea.

When they arrived at the orphanage Xiaolian was outside enjoying the sunrise. It had been a long morning with diaper changes, feedings, and just generally unhappy children. When she saw Liling and Pengfei walking her way she knew her break was over. She stood up and came over. She invited them into the orphanage where they quickly took the baby in and got her diaper changed and fed her. Xiaolian, cradled her in her arms and sung to her as she slowly fell asleep.

Caelyn, a year ago today you were born. We don’t know much of that day but we do know you are now here with us, your Ma Ma and Da Da. We hope that your first day will have been the only difficult day in your life. And that everyday from that point on you will find joy and happiness. Your mother and I promise we will always be here with you, that not a day will go by that we won’t tell you how much we love you, and that we will do everything we can to make your dreams come true. I love you my little baby girl, Happy Birthday, make a wish and blow out your candles.

The Balancing Act

I recently went on my first business trip away from my ladies. It was only one short night away but while I waiting at the gate I just couldn't figure out what I was doing there. I have already missed several milestones and I was overcome by sadness. I even had the thought of just leaving the terminal and heading back to my car and going home. Instead I put on my headset fought back the tears and got on the plane.

Since I have been at work I have missed watching her crawling for the first time, I missed watching her learn to pull herself up without assistance, and I missed her learning not only to drink from a sippy cup but understanding her mother's request to drink from the sippy cup. What else would I miss while I was gone?

Every night I am sitting in the office at 7pm anxiously trying to wrap up what I am doing so I could go home. I used to always stay with my team until we achieved our nights goals. Now in the middle of busy season my team is sacrificing so much of their time while I am running out to try to get to my family. Some might think a 10 hour is a long day but in my job that used to be a light day. I just feel that I should be doing more to help them get to see their families too. But if I give more I am taking more from others.

Of course the struggle is balance. Though nowadays the idea of balance just seems like a fairy tale. The real goal seems to be tolerance. You just hang in there and believe in your vision, in your dream. I might have missed some firsts but I still got to see the seconds. I might feel guilty for leaving before my team but while I am there I do everything possible to make their jobs easier.In the end we do our best and sometimes that is all we can do.

I got back from my long one night trip away and Caelyn crawled across the floor with a big smile; maybe she just thought I had food. But either way my heart leapt and I learned being away means coming home is always special.

I might have a lot of struggles but I wouldn't want it any other way; my wife and daughter are worth it.