Check out the story on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08183/893790-51.stm
Many thanks to the terrific reporter who took lots of time with us and put the story together! Kathy, you're terrific!
Monday, June 30, 2008
A Great Adventure in the Making
It's 1 am on July 1 and I'm still awake. I have too much to do and too many thoughts running through my head. In just a couple of days I will be embarking on a great adventure with people who mean the world to me. I'll try to make the story short.
In 2005 my kids and I made our first return journey to their birth country, Cambodia. We had last been there in July of 1991 when Brennan Dara was just over a year old and Kaley Ilene was about 5 months. The 2005 trip was an amazing adventure, which you can read about in my 2005 blog.
While there, we participate in a housebuilding project with a bunch of other teenage adoptees, most of whom are now living in Australia. While there the kids made a "pact" to return again in 3 years. So in the back of my mind, I was planning a return trip in 2008. I also had promised my beloved childhood friend Marcy that I would go back again someday soon and that once again, she would go with me. You see, she was the one who went with me back in 1991 and kept me sane long enough to leave Cambodia with Brennan and Kaley after nearly six very difficult weeks. I don't think I could have made it without her. After hearing me ramble about all of the changes in the country over the years, she really wanted to go back and see it for herself, too.
As often happens in the lives of teenagers, the pact is not being fulfilled and we won't be reuniting with our Aussie friends in Cambodia. But this doesn't mean that we're not in for a great adventure. Once our plans started falling into place, I contacted a couple of other old friends. First came Deb from Chicago. Deb was part of our small traveling group in 1991 and she had adopted Leanne who was about 4 years old at the time. I haven't talked to Deb in years (although Marcy was a bit better about keeping in touch than I was!) but when I asked her if she had any interest in going she said, "We're in!" Closer to home was my friend Julie, who had also adopted her daughter Hilary soon after we adopted Brennan and Kaley. She lives just north of us in Butler County, but in this case, too, we had lost touch. I dropped her a note to describe our plans, and she too responded, "We're in!"
So we are a band of might women, off on a great adventure. Kaley is now 17. Hilary is 18, and Leanne is 20 I believe. Leanne's dad, Mike, will be meeting up with us for the Cambodian portion of our adventure, too. Our itinerary looks like this:
July 3 - Lisa, Marcy, and Kaley will fly from Pittsburgh to Newark where they will connect with Deb and Leanne and endure a 15 hour flight from Newark to Hong Kong
July 4 - Arrive Hong Kong in the evening and then board a ferry boat to the island of Macau. Spend the night in Macau.
July 5 - Spend the day sightseeing in macau until we fly out in the evening bound for Bangkok.
July 6 - Bangkok - visit with some of our Aussie friends that we met during the housebuilding. Melita and her kids Vitha and Saray live in Bangkok.
July 7 - Fly from Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam (Mike will be meeting us there.)
July 8 - Sightseeing in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) Julie and Hilary will arrive this day.
July 9 - Travel by van from Saigon to Phnom Penh, which ironically is the way that we travelled 17 years ago. Seems somehow appropriate!
July 10 - 14 - Sightsee in Phnom Penh, visit orphanages and relief agencies, and share in Leanne's and Hilary's reunions with members of their birthfamilies.
July 15 - Travel by bus to Siem Reap, Cambodia
July 16 - Tour the temples of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap
July 17 - Say goodbye to Mike, Julie, and Hilary, all of whom will be leaving for home. The rest of us will fly back to Hong Kong (by way of Singapore.)
July 18 - Hong Kong Sightseeing and shopping
July 19 - Hong Kong (more shopping!!)
Juluy 20 - Fly from Hong Kong to Newark and then on to Pittsburgh.
Wooh! It's an exhausting itinerary but we are so excited about it. We have some big hopes for the trip, but of course I can only speak for myself:
We hope to make a difference in the lives of the kids in the orphanages where our children lived. The rice shortage and economic situation in Cambodia is at a critical level right now so we know that we will be able to help alleviate some struggles.
We hope to share in meaningful family meetings with Leanne and Hilary's birth families and to provide some needed support to their families as they live out their very simple and difficult lives.
We hope to experience the joy of reconnecting with old beloved friends.... the nannies who cared for our children when they were babies, our driver from 2005, some other adoptive families who are living in Cambodia.
We know that we will experience the joy and beauty of the culture of this uniquely wonderful yet challenging land of Cambodia.
We know that we will see new parts of the world and that is always an adventure. (Come on, who else has been to Macau??)
I know that we will spend loooonnnnggggg hours talking and catching up and that with this band of women (and Mike) much market shopping will be enjoyed!
And personally, I hope most of all that our daughters find meaningful new friendships with each other and that as they go through life they will have each other to return to. They are all beautiful and amazing young women. It will be a privelege and a blessing to share this time with them.
So.... that's it in a nutshell. I'm going to try to blog every day and throw some pictures up here. We'll see how it goes. Keep us in your prayers, and feel free to write a message here on the blog so that we know you're thinking about us.
Hugs to all -
Lisa & Crew
In 2005 my kids and I made our first return journey to their birth country, Cambodia. We had last been there in July of 1991 when Brennan Dara was just over a year old and Kaley Ilene was about 5 months. The 2005 trip was an amazing adventure, which you can read about in my 2005 blog.
While there, we participate in a housebuilding project with a bunch of other teenage adoptees, most of whom are now living in Australia. While there the kids made a "pact" to return again in 3 years. So in the back of my mind, I was planning a return trip in 2008. I also had promised my beloved childhood friend Marcy that I would go back again someday soon and that once again, she would go with me. You see, she was the one who went with me back in 1991 and kept me sane long enough to leave Cambodia with Brennan and Kaley after nearly six very difficult weeks. I don't think I could have made it without her. After hearing me ramble about all of the changes in the country over the years, she really wanted to go back and see it for herself, too.
As often happens in the lives of teenagers, the pact is not being fulfilled and we won't be reuniting with our Aussie friends in Cambodia. But this doesn't mean that we're not in for a great adventure. Once our plans started falling into place, I contacted a couple of other old friends. First came Deb from Chicago. Deb was part of our small traveling group in 1991 and she had adopted Leanne who was about 4 years old at the time. I haven't talked to Deb in years (although Marcy was a bit better about keeping in touch than I was!) but when I asked her if she had any interest in going she said, "We're in!" Closer to home was my friend Julie, who had also adopted her daughter Hilary soon after we adopted Brennan and Kaley. She lives just north of us in Butler County, but in this case, too, we had lost touch. I dropped her a note to describe our plans, and she too responded, "We're in!"
So we are a band of might women, off on a great adventure. Kaley is now 17. Hilary is 18, and Leanne is 20 I believe. Leanne's dad, Mike, will be meeting up with us for the Cambodian portion of our adventure, too. Our itinerary looks like this:
July 3 - Lisa, Marcy, and Kaley will fly from Pittsburgh to Newark where they will connect with Deb and Leanne and endure a 15 hour flight from Newark to Hong Kong
July 4 - Arrive Hong Kong in the evening and then board a ferry boat to the island of Macau. Spend the night in Macau.
July 5 - Spend the day sightseeing in macau until we fly out in the evening bound for Bangkok.
July 6 - Bangkok - visit with some of our Aussie friends that we met during the housebuilding. Melita and her kids Vitha and Saray live in Bangkok.
July 7 - Fly from Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam (Mike will be meeting us there.)
July 8 - Sightseeing in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) Julie and Hilary will arrive this day.
July 9 - Travel by van from Saigon to Phnom Penh, which ironically is the way that we travelled 17 years ago. Seems somehow appropriate!
July 10 - 14 - Sightsee in Phnom Penh, visit orphanages and relief agencies, and share in Leanne's and Hilary's reunions with members of their birthfamilies.
July 15 - Travel by bus to Siem Reap, Cambodia
July 16 - Tour the temples of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap
July 17 - Say goodbye to Mike, Julie, and Hilary, all of whom will be leaving for home. The rest of us will fly back to Hong Kong (by way of Singapore.)
July 18 - Hong Kong Sightseeing and shopping
July 19 - Hong Kong (more shopping!!)
Juluy 20 - Fly from Hong Kong to Newark and then on to Pittsburgh.
Wooh! It's an exhausting itinerary but we are so excited about it. We have some big hopes for the trip, but of course I can only speak for myself:
We hope to make a difference in the lives of the kids in the orphanages where our children lived. The rice shortage and economic situation in Cambodia is at a critical level right now so we know that we will be able to help alleviate some struggles.
We hope to share in meaningful family meetings with Leanne and Hilary's birth families and to provide some needed support to their families as they live out their very simple and difficult lives.
We hope to experience the joy of reconnecting with old beloved friends.... the nannies who cared for our children when they were babies, our driver from 2005, some other adoptive families who are living in Cambodia.
We know that we will experience the joy and beauty of the culture of this uniquely wonderful yet challenging land of Cambodia.
We know that we will see new parts of the world and that is always an adventure. (Come on, who else has been to Macau??)
I know that we will spend loooonnnnggggg hours talking and catching up and that with this band of women (and Mike) much market shopping will be enjoyed!
And personally, I hope most of all that our daughters find meaningful new friendships with each other and that as they go through life they will have each other to return to. They are all beautiful and amazing young women. It will be a privelege and a blessing to share this time with them.
So.... that's it in a nutshell. I'm going to try to blog every day and throw some pictures up here. We'll see how it goes. Keep us in your prayers, and feel free to write a message here on the blog so that we know you're thinking about us.
Hugs to all -
Lisa & Crew
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