When I first saw our daughter’s picture, I thought she looked so sad and hoped that a family would adopt her. I had no idea that a couple months later we would be the ones filling out paperwork. I had never known a person who was blind, or knew anyone with a child who was blind, and thought I’m clueless how to raise a child who was blind; but, I had fallen in love with the girl in the picture and spent many hours reading blogs, books, websites, and everything else I could find. I started learning braille and taking on-line classes, and was determined to know as much as I possibly could before we brought her home. When we went on our visit trip to Bulgaria, I met a little girl who was very aware of everything around her (every sound, movement, etc.), loved attention, and laughed REALLY loudly.

She’s been home now for 20 months, and the change in her has been amazing! She is literally a “sponge.” We were told she was quiet; well, she could talk (and usually does) ALL DAY long! She is always asking questions, and she never forgets the answer. She knows the seven days of the week, and can tell you exactly what day of the week something happened. It is so fun to watch her learn, and very tiring as well. I’ve had to learn how to be very specific in how I answer questions, or how I describe things, and make sure the answer is correct (because she doesn’t forget).

I’ve learned to look at things with all my senses and see many things in a different way. It hasn’t all been easy, there have been many hard trying days, and I’m sure there will be many more; but, has it been worth it? Absolutely!