Wednesday, April 18, 2012

LEXI


The past two weeks with our new little visitor Lexi has been joyful ones for the most part. It’s also been transforming for her. Lexi has gone from a shy, sad child who never spoke to a happy, loving child who now says even some words in English. “Hello! Hello!, she calls out as she walks down the street waving. She wakes up singing songs in her crib and calls out for “Carlita” or “Papi Joe” to come get her.

The past two weeks has also given us an inside hint to how bad the abuse was in her prior home. Once I bent down to wipe a crumb off her face and she turned and flinched, expecting me to slap her across her face. She heard a baby crying outside and she explained to me in Spanish that the baby’s mother must have hit it. I was wrestling with Carlie on the bed and pretended to spank her. Lexi shot out of the room like a rubber-band, hiding her eyes from the “abuse” I was dealing out to her beloved “Carlita”. Little things like this make us truly sad that she has endured such badness in her short 3 or 4 years of life. (No one knows her true age)

Day by day we’re also coming to know her as the little girl she is inside when abuse is replaced with love. She thoroughly enjoys coming to the Kingdom Hall with us, where she is showered with more love and attention in two hours than she’s ever known in her whole life. Apparently she’s been to church at least once in her life or known someone that goes because after the prayer she tried to make the sign of the cross. She now remembers to pray before every meal with us and even reminds Joe to say her bedtime prayer. She loves to swim. She eats like she was never fed, although she’s not a skinny child! She wakes up in the morning begging for coffee and bread. She folds clothes, washes herself in the shower, takes dishes to the sink when she’s done and throws dropped food in the trash after she eats.  She’s my little Cinderella.

Lexi also has some quirks. What child doesn’t? She likes to “breast-feed” her stuffed animals. She likes to sit in the kitchen and watch me cook, explaining in Spanish each ingredient that I use and then telling me the food is ready even if it’s not. She likes to change clothes at least 3 times a day and puts her prettiest dresses into her crib so she can look at them before she falls asleep for her nap. This is because she’s never had such nice clothes before and it really makes her happy to try on things that aren’t ripped or moldy. She can spend hours staring out of the windows quietly watching the world pass by. If a dog barks or a boy rolls by on his bike, she announces it. She loves to draw. Last week I bought her a notebook and she’s already filled it with page after page of colorful circles. She has been caught trying to put on “eye-shadow” with one of her crayons. Lexi is good at naming food items and animals, but does not know her colors or numbers. It’s easy to see no one has ever tried to teach her anything but neglectfulness.

We joke with friends that she’s gone from pauper to princess overnight. She now has her own bed, own room, toys, beautiful clothes, a pair of silver earrings, more than one pair of shoes, someone who bathes her, cleans her teeth and does her hair, she has her own books. She goes to the pool, eats at restaurants and cafes, is held and kissed on by dozens of new “family” members from our congregation, inherited a “big sister” and two Chihuahuas that make her laugh- she is now a real kid and not treated like a wooden Pinocchio with no heart or feelings.

Lexi will probably be living with us until at least the end of July. After that we’re not sure what will become of her if we put her back into the orphanage, where she will sleep in a dorm-type room shared by at least six other girls and eat tuna sandwiches every day. We try not to think about that for now, and enjoy for the moment being a family of four.

2 comments:

  1. It's wonderful how Lexi can see Jehovah's love through your families, and the congregations actions. Hopefully she will be able to stay with you as long as possible, and hopefully she will always remember.

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  2. Every child deserves what you have provided Lexi, I cried as I read of the abuse she has endured. May Jehovah bless you in caring for her and may he watch over her always.

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