Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." 

Winnie the Pooh

The last of my California kiddos are now homeward bound.  The Latvians have been home for a few days, some of our Ukrainians have arrived and a still others are on long train rides to their various regions. As sad as departure day is I actually found it more "fun" than arrival day (as a coordinator that is, as a host family departure day is just plain AWFUL, you can read this post aptly titled Goodbye Sucks to get an idea of how heart wrenching departure day is from a hosting perspective) . These kids who 4 weeks ago were stoic, scared and nearly silent are now full of JOY and LIFE!!! This can only be attributed to the LOVE their host families poured into them while they were here! Their hearts are full and part of their souls have been restored! I'm so blessed to be apart of this amazing ministry!! In a matter of four weeks their host families have changed these kids lives FOREVER!!!

Our Latvians left on a flight at 6 am Sunday morning. EEEK! Wowsers! That was early. I wish I could say the staff at American Airlines was helpful as I attempted to check in 7 foreigners, but they just weren't. Maybe it was the dreadful hour (4 am) but they just weren't too pleasant to work with. It seems LAX has now gone to a nearly automated check in system, great if you've got a confirmation number, not so great if you don't....they had me going this way and then that way and then back again. All with 6 kiddos, their host families and our chaperone trailing behind me, and don't forget the luggage. UGH! Due to this "back and forth" our final goodbyes were more rushed than I'd liked. Here are some pictures of our Latvians as they prepared to depart due to the hurry we were in most of these pics aren't mine, I stole borrowed

The Mullers praying over Sasha and Zhenya. 

This one makes me tear up every time!

Kim praying over Artjoms.

 Do you see that smile? This kid's whole world changed this month! If you don't believe me, see his before and after picture below!!

 Artjoms "before and after". Out of all my CA kiddos this guy probably changed the most! He wore his hood for the first few days of hosting and arrived with sunken eyes and dark circles, he looked so sick on arrival day...check him out now!!

Roberts and his host family! He was "host only" due to his age but spoke great English and wrote them the sweetest letter before he left! Such a great kid! He hopes to return this summer!

Vika and her host family. 

Santa and her host family.

Artjoms watched his host mom the whole way up the escalator and Roberts turned and made a heart with his hands :(

One final picture of my Latvians and their chaperone Inga before they took off and YES the giant Rudolph went all the way home to Latvia, though I hear he caused a stir going through security in Chicago due to the wires inside him to light his red nose. Oops!

We had a much smoother check-in for our Ukrainians late Monday evening. Partly because I know knew to figure out where they wanted me without a herd of people following me all over the airport and partly because the Delta agent checking us in was just awesome! She was helpful, happy and even laughed with me! Such a difference from my experience with American the day before. Paula B. you made my night you were a pure delight! She was so good I had to take an extra minute and tell her supervisor just how awesome she was!  Since things went so much more smoothly my families had plenty of time to say their goodbyes after the bags were checked and that meant I had plenty of time to document them on camera!

We started out with a group shot before everyone got weepy.

Love this family! Rustam fit right in, they were reliving the month on camera and laughing away!

I overheard Igor telling his host mom not to cry :( 

Nastya and her host family. 

Vitaliy and Nataliya and family. 

Rustam, such a cute kid! 

Igor and family.

 

 

Everyone got drinks (mostly sodas) after we went thru security. Chaperone Andrey also got a coffee so he could stay awake and monitor the kiddos. 

Nastya showing off the pictures and video loaded onto her MP3 player by her host family! 

While they were waiting to board I had them all tape goodbye messages to their family. Igor's a bit of a comedian, thought I'd share his...he also said it right as everyone was in tears as they walked away from their families, totally lightened the mood and kept the tears at bay.

What have you done in the last 4 weeks that was more impactful or life changing than what our New Horizons host families just did? Yes, it can be challenging and exhausting, but it's time well spent!  Just for fun I put together a few collages of arrival day pictures and departure day pictures. I couldn't do them all as some of the arrival day pics had so many family members of various heights they wouldn't all fit in the tiny collage window, but here are the few I was able to do...

 

 

 

Artjoms arrival/departure collage is the most shocking. Look how much he's changed. The kid gained 15 lbs in four weeks and finally opened himself up to give and receive love!

 

 It's not too early to sign up to host this summer!! We're offering summer hosting from Latvia/Ukraine and China too!! If you'd like to host a child this summer please follow this link to fill our our pre-application!!