Visiting a Friend

You might remember Wynn spotting a picture of someone she knew in her foster village while I was blog surfing.  We had an opportunity to go meet this family as they were visiting relatives in Washington State.  Wynn was very, very nervous about going alone, so she brought her brother/best friend Conor along with her for a cross-state drive and a mini vacation in an econo-hotel.

We visited the International District in Seattle, which had some great shopping opportunities but didn't seem to impress Wynn.  It was truly disappointing that we were unable to find books.  A large Asian bookstore had only one small, partial shelf of books in Simplified Chinese.  Wynn's friend and her mom turned out to be just as wonderful in person as they seem online.  :)  Very, very nice people.  Wynn reacted, as she does whenever stressed or uncomfortable, by shutting down. She interacted minimally with her friend, which was very disappointing to me.  I do know that forcing the issue -taking away iPod, trying to require speech (ha ha)- would only make her withdraw more and become surly.  It was very similar to the way she handles holidays:  talks about them with enthusiasm and anticipation for weeks, and then sits by herself and rejects interaction when the day comes.  Stress at the dichotomy of her expectations and the reality?  I don't know.  Sigh.

Regardless of the fact that they didn't put their heads together and chatter away in two languages, I am so glad that she got to see her friend.  (Hmmm.  Talk about a dichotomy between hopes and reality, Lora?) I am grateful for every fragile tie to her past; I hope that she can see that we appreciate that she had a life before Nortonhood, and that our respect of it is helpful to her.