silokeo

dear silo,

i write this as you sit with your 'brother' eeli watching Thomas the Train, on the eve of his departure. we have told you that eeli and silla and tiina and teemu are going home tomorrow, that they will take 4 airplanes to get there, that their home is far away and it will probably be a long time before we see them again. you ask questions, but it is clear that you have not fully grasped what is about to happen. there are signs that both of you sense the change that is coming, but i am so grateful that you have come together at the end of this day ... found a way into your make believe world in our back yard and played "firemans" with more agreement and laughter than we've seen all day.

at about this time 13 years ago, i was saying goodbye to tiina and teemu as a teenager, on my way back to minnesota. we did not know if we'd ever see eachother again. it was one of the saddest days i can remember and yet, tonight on the eve of saying goodbye to them yet again, i worry about your tender heart more than my own. i know the richness that has been added to your life because of the last 10 months, and i can see this in the perspective of your life, but you have not faced anything of this nature in your short life and as your mother i am not sure what to expect, how you will deal with your feelings, or how i will be able to help you through them.

i know you will be ok. i know that this is simply the beginning of your relationship with eeli and silla.... your lives will be interwined in ways i cannot even imagine right now. it is this that gives me some peace.....and it is this that i will hold onto in the days ahead as our life goes back to "normal"

thank you tiina, teemu, eeli & silla - and especially, my dear husband, souliyahn for opening your lives up to this time together. there are few people in the world who can do what we have just done. i will be taking lessons from these months for the rest of my life and my love for you has grown roots that are mature and long lasting. until we meet again.....and i will not worry about when that might be - instead i look forward to watching the opportunity unfold........

love,
your mom - tia