The Jordan Family

Our trip to Russia was considered our huge “vacation” of the summer, although this trip differed in many ways from any of our other family vacations. We were traveling to Russia to adopt my new brother, Connor. My dad remarried about three years ago, and he and my stepmother decided that they wanted to add another child to our already existing three girls. So, after much planning, anticipation, and of course excitement, the time finally came for us to go over and bring him home.

Upon arriving in Russia, we stepped off the plane with both anticipation and fear of the unknown. We were pleasantly surprised that there were smiling faces waiting for us: Tatyana, our translator, and Sasha, our driver. Our fears subsided and remembering why we were here brought us back to reality. Our spirits were high and our thoughts were happy.

The orphanage my brother was living in was a large house which had been built before World War I. It had 60 children living crowdedly in it. It broke my heart to see babies without proper clothing or diapers and young children who had to play with old, broken toys because there was no money for new ones. After meeting my brother for the first time, we also met the rest of his “group” which consisted of five other children. We fell in love with them immediately, especially Connor, and helped to care for them while we were there for a few short hours. We visited the orphanage every day for four days, and the fourth day was the day we took Connor with us. The other children knew we were leaving; they could almost sense it. All five sat, crying hysterically on the floor of the playpen. Crying because they had no families, no parents, no future, and no hope. Closing the door on those children, who were not given the chance my brother was, had to be the most challenging thing I’ve ever done in my life. But, I also had to remember that maybe someday, they too would be lucky enough to find a family as loving as ours.

My brother has been with our family for 8 months now and the change he has undergone is absolutely miraculous. I feel as if he has always been part of our lives and he fits perfectly into our family. To me, he is my brother and I love him with the same love I have for my sisters. He is a special, beautiful, healthy, happy, and very lucky child.

Written by: Devon Jordan