Dad leaves town

Most of us have experienced sitting on the bench just waiting for a chance to get into the game to replace one of the starters. My opportunity came when the professor had to go back to the States on Monday. Some of you will know me as Grandpa. Over here I’m called gjyshi (jew-shee). While Nathan’s away, Sarah and I will be trading off helping Cydil in the Vlora orphanage, Ellie’s temporary home. While my duties are mostly to escort Cydil on our walks by the Adriatic to see Ellie, twice daily, I see it as a great opportunity to get to know two special ladies in my life.

My chance to come on the floor after Nathan left is a great opportunity to watch Ellie in action and photograph her responses to Cydil’s nudges, pokes, and prods. At 75 photos an hour for 5 hours, I’ve come up with four pictures out of 400 to which I want you to pay special attention. Today was “bubble” day and Ellie’s previous apprehension with the bubbles revealed her hidden inquisitive nature. She’s a special girl who moves long fingers with an abiding grace. Ellie’s advantage in this sense are the detail used to point out the bubbles. She also has a very curious charm with the position of her lips and the focus of her eyes. The bubbles brought these to special detail.

Ellie’s pink coat was donned for her exit from the building and entrance to the big wide world. Because of her “captivity” (I use this in a loving manner), she has been denied access to sights and sounds of her Albanian country. Today Cydil took her to the playground and as usual, she was not happy with sky and trees and birds, something that all of us take for granted. Ellie has to process each specific movement and color since these are dimensions of life just handed to her recently. You can see that in spite of Cydil’s care at holding her she is still far from peace with the out of doors.

Perhaps one of the most touching events of the day was when Ellie found herself ready for naptime. Cydil’s arms were of the right comfort and security for Ellie to blend her trust and care of Cydil into an opportunity to take cat naps before lunch. I remember when Nathan commented over the phone about Ellie falling asleep in his arms and you can see the milestone that has been reached when she yields completely to their love.

Tomorrow’s another day. Tomorrow we will go through playing, finding Ellie’s favorite toy, having a “girlfriend” meeting with roommie Matilda, a trip outdoors, and then a kiss on the forehead when we leave.