My name is Mary and I am a Facebook and iPhone addict. My most intimate relationship is with my iPhone, (sorry Babe, but we tried). Nothing satisfies me like a good quick thumbing of the statuses. Again, hubby, nice go, no cigar. I have no doubt of the insiduousness of this tiny plastic encased box of ecstasy which facilitates my all-consuming need to update, update, update, check, check, check. I go to sleep with it each night, tucking my phone in beside my head. Yes, I have seen the photos of the badly burnt lady with the molten cell phone outline forever scorched into her pillow, but like my uncle Gerry who frequently set the sheets ablaze dozing off, Camel in hand, I can't help myself. It badda bing, badda bing's me awake with its familiar morning crow each day and before I can even focus my sleep blurried eyes, I am on Facebook. Summer's offer the ideal respite in which to enjoy early morning friend stalking. Gameplan- keep kids up late in the summer to reap the sweet benefits of lingering in the morning feathers while the offspring sleep in. Lounging between my slumbering kiddies and farting around on Facebook provides a form of self-satisfaction few sex aids can rival. So, like most weekday mornings in July, squished between two of my snoozing, sweaty children, I saw for the first time on a post from Rainbow Kids Adoption- Oleksiy. Anything that I've seen since, good or bad, and I have indeed seen humanity at its best and its worst, has been nothing in comparison.
Oleksiy needed a host family- STAT! There was little info on the post other than that he'd had been selected to participate in a program called Journey's of Joy which brings children each summer from orphanages in Ukraine to stay with families throughout the United States. The program commenced at the end of July and without a family, Oleksiy would not be able to experience what promised to be the vacation of a lifetime. I could not scroll past his image. He was perfect- his soft brown hair with the cowlick in the front, his mischievous grey eyes- so full of life, his wry smile. He appeared unnaturally dressed in the uniform of the Boarding School Orphanage- a navy v-necked sweater and tie. We would be his host family. We were meant to know Oleksiy. Without consulting my other half as he'd only have said "no", (I'm the better half after all, not the realistic one), I responded to the posting and e-mailed the program coordinator. By day's end, we were prospective host parents. With one Facebook comment, our world would be forever changed. I knew precious little about the can of worms I'd just opened or where my impetuous lazy morning surfing would take our family. All before I'd brushed my teeth that summer morning, a new chapter in our lives had begun.
