As we were getting ready to leave and saying goodbye to everyone (close to 100 people had come out at this point) I hugged the grandmother and told Ben to give her a hug and he started to cry.

It broke my heart... I know he must have been thinking about leaving them all last year when they took him to the orphanage. He was obviously loved and cared for there. She pulled him close and spoke to him in Amharic, and then told me that she had told him that they love him, but that they we were his parents now, and we were good parents, and they wanted him to go with us and have a happy life. I was crying, Ben was crying and lots of others were crying, but the grandmother never did. She just smiled and smiled. I can only imagine what she has gone through over the past year or two, worrying about his future and his happiness and it was great to get to meet her in person and let her see how loved and cared for he would be.

We got into the car and Ben got in the back with Josh and curled up on him. He snuggled and cried while clutching his crackers for a while… his last physical possession from his first home… and then Josh had him laughing and playing again, and then he napped. We had been worried about taking him back to Assala, but I think it was a good thing. He seemed to really understand the situation, and having his Grandmother’s blessing was an amazing thing. Ben was happy the rest of the night and really has been ever since.

I am glad we went, and can say we truly know where he is from and how loved he was (is). And Dan videoed the entire time, so we have hours and hours of footage from this trip.
I have to say when we got back from Assala, that I have never been as dirty in my whole life! (And I used to work in a barn!!!!) We had to keep the windows of the cab open or we would have sweat to death, but the dust and exhaust coming in the window was horrible. Yes, I have a whole new definition of dirty.

And Josh…poor Josh…he still cringes every time we see a Rav 4. It was a very long day for him and his backside!

We got back to the hotel room and had a MUCH needed bathroom break and showers, and then went to dinner at the Sheraton with Dan. It was a lovely buffet of food, and seeing Ben’s eyes as he gawked at the desert table was worth whatever we paid for the pricey meal.
We crashed into bed that night after a really, really long day…knowing that in just 24 hours, we would be officially on our way HOME.