We went back to the Hilton and played on the play ground and did some shopping…ate lunch for one last time at our favorite little place by the pool, and then walked over to the little grocery store to get some fresh snacks for the trip home. We waited around out front of the Hilton, talking with our two favorite doormen, and waiting for Sidisse, the director of AHOPE, who was supposed to come and meet us.

Once she was a full half hour late, (and so was Belane’s nap), I decided to take Belane upstairs for her nap and figured Sidisse would show up sooner or later (you get used to “Ethiopia time” after a while).

As I put B down for her nap, I couldn’t help but think it would be the last time we cuddled in that bed. She has a really cute “going to sleep” routine. She either has to be laying next to me, her body facing mine, with her arm wrapped around my neck and our foreheads pressed together, OR, she has to be laying in between my legs with her head resting on one of my thighs, OR, she has to have her entire body on my chest, laying on her side, with her head pressed against my cheek. These are the only acceptable falling asleep positions.

The good news is, that she now falls asleep within two to three minutes tops, and as soon as she is asleep, I can get up and she sleeps for the whole night or the whole nap without waking up. (Although at this point we are still fighting some jet lag and she is waking up around 5am.)

Anyway, as we laid there and she fell asleep for her last nap in Ethiopia, it was one of those “reflective” moments, as I thought about those first few days, and how I wondered how I would get her to fall asleep…how long she napped for… and then I thought about how comfortable and familiar it all was at that point…how I knew what she wanted and what she liked and what she needed.

In that moment, I was glad for the time I had had in Addis, with Belane. I wished it all hadn’t been so stressful, but I was grateful to have had that time to focus on her and get to know her and give her what she needed.

As she slept (after I pried her arm from around my neck), I packed. I cleaned out the drawers and the bathroom and packed up souvenirs and clothes. I tried to pack all the essentials in my carryon, while also keeping it as light as possible (ha!).

Somewhere in all that, Sidisse called and arranged to meet us at 3:30 p.m., which worked out well. Belane woke up, and we freshened up and went down to meet Sidisse, and the three of us went and sat at the restaurant by the pool. Sidisse got a juice and Belane and I finally got one of the giant ice cream sundaes we had been looking at on the menu for two weeks but had never ordered because we were always too full after our meals.

She picked the biggest one on the menu…the “brownie” sundae. The waitress brought it and Belane’s eyes were huge…but she had a very similar reaction to ice cream as Ben did…SHOCK that it was COLD. She loved the brownie part though…and the whip cream…and every once and a while stole a lick of the ice cream too.

Sidisse brought us an awesome CD full of almost 100 pictures of Belane…some from the farewell party and a bunch from activities that they have had in the past 10 months since Belane has been at AHOPE. Having those pictures is just priceless to us…I am sure they will be priceless to Belane some day too. I am so grateful that Sidisse not only took the time to take the pictures, but to copy them for us too.

We visited for a little while longer, than said our goodbye’s, and headed back up to our room. I called room service and ordered two big things of wat and injera for dinner and finished up the packing. At that point it was exciting just to look at the suitcases.

Dinner came and things started to get really busy. I had to get us both fed, and then both of us cleaned up and changed into new, clean and comfortable clothes. We had to be at the airport by 7-7:30 p.m;, and our driver Selamneh was going to arrive at the Hilton by 6:45 p.m.

With just a few moments to spare, I was running around, getting things ready, when there was a knock on the door. I opened it, and there were three Hilton employees holding a GIANT CAKE and singing “Happy Birthday” to me. When they finished I told them that I thought they had the wrong room because it wasn’t our birthday, but they pointed at the cake and showed me that it said “Mr. Henderson”. Well, sure enough, it was Josh’s birthday. So B and I took a few moments (she said, “Cake!!!!”) and we shoveled some bites of Josh’s Ethiopian birthday cake into our mouths.

I took a quick double-check of the room, had our bags picked up and brought downstairs, and with a final wave good-bye, a lot of excitement and a little bit of anxiety over the grueling trip ahead of us, we were leaving our “home” of room 728 in the Hilton, and on our way to our real home sweet home and the rest of our family.


To be continued…