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...And Then a Swirly Rainbow Picture

After my saddest day with her...this moment of unbearable joy. Jane drew a picture with our whole family (that's seven people, each represented by just their eyes, waist, and legs), a sun, and a rainbow. She draws almost every day and usually many pictures in each sitting. She's lived here 16 months. This is the very first picture with a sun and a rainbow. Drawn on a cloudy, cold, muddy spring day.

I realized almost a year ago that she never drew any suns or other happy scenes. I'm a special education teacher for behavior disordered children; I don't have a degree in child psychology but I know some signs to look for. I took notice and started waiting. 16 months. Two Christmases, a birthday, and an adoption later...she finally found her sun.

And this is the very first time she has drawn our whole family together. She named each one for me while I blinked furiously so she wouldn't see my teary eyes. 16 months. 16 months. Such a long time for her to finally deeply believe that she has a family, a home, and she's okay.


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