Sarah has been with us almost five months. When we first met her, she smiled and laughed a lot. But it struck us a few weeks ago, that she wasn’t laughing or smiling as much. We felt we had to work fairly hard to make her laugh.
But I also realized today that Sarah is (and has been) laughing and smiling a lot lately. Joleen also remembers that our caseworker once told us that some adoptive families have noticed that their child seems to become a completely different child around the six-month point.
Even though from all indications, Sarah has handled this transition very well, it’s impossible to fully understand the trauma of the change she’s experienced — being “taken” from her culture (family/home, scenery, language, scents, etc.) and brought to a new one.
Sarah’s renewed smiles and laughter has us reflecting on her journey with us so far. It’s also really good to see her smiling and laughing more!
