Cangwu Social Welfare Institute

Some day, we'll want to visit this place - but until then, here is just a small photo and a small glimpse of the place Madison spent a year of her life at. It's the Cangwu Social Welfare Institute, the orphanage Madison was found at in May of 2007, right by the front gate. Eleven months later, she was taken on the long road trip across the province of Guangxi - all the way to Nanning.

That was the day we first met: June 30th, 2008.

We have a few photos of her life, but not much. You can see a quick slide show of the images we received before we met at this link here. It shows Madison in various places throughout the orphanage.

I'll never forget the searching we did online for images from inside the Cangwu orphanage, looking through other adoptive parents' photo galleries for pictures that could be of Madison. Like this one above - is that her in the pink jacket to the right? Recently, I just found this picture. But back in May of 2008, the search was more intense. Every time we'd stumble upon a new picture, it was like finding a thousand dollar bill. I'd forward it to everyone with a note that says, "here's my daughter!" Some photos we received from other adoptive parents, who kindly e-mailed us her image. And in turn, we ourselves would later forward photos of the orphanage that we had - so other future parents could see a glimpse of what their daughter was doing.

One collection of photos of Madison was taken with a disposable camera we sent over just prior to our visit - it went along with her first birthday cake we sent for her. June 15th, 2008, was her second birthday, and we wanted to make sure we had a party for her, even if we couldn't attend ourselves yet. Orphanage workers took some nice photos for us, all of which we couldn't see until after we arrived in China.

We'll always wonder about things to a certain extent. We didn't find out until May 2, 2008 where or even who she was - and I'll always remember the flurry of excitement leading up to her adoption where we were so desperate for any photo of her we could find. It became an obsession looking on other blogs, and trying to find images of the interior of the orphanage - just for the chance to see a photo of Madison. We collected a few, and you can see many of them in that link above, but I'm sure there are still some out there that we'll some day happen upon.

What a difference now, where we take a picture of her nearly every day!

We've vowed to go back to China with Madison when she's old enough to understand why we're there. Children from China return home all the time with their new families, on a journey called a "heritage tour." Some day we will go back - we might even stay at that Majestic Hotel again, where we first stayed together as a family.

Today Daddy did a lot of work, and so did Mommy. Recovery from last week is still ongoing, as there is a lot to clean up at home and elsewhere. Madison is a good helper though, and isn't afraid to grab a broom and try to help sweep things up. Still, that room is quite a mess - with toys all over the floor. You have to watch your step in there, as she likes to spread things out a bit.

A little under two years ago, she was living her life in Cangwu. We wonder how it was communicated that Mommy and Daddy were coming. We sent a birthday card, of course - but beyond that I frequently wonder if she knew she'd be leaving the orphanage soon. I wonder if she knew how much of a blessing she would be to us.