Loan

Beautiful

I don't know where to start to write about Loan. She is an employee of my Ontario based adoption agency. She lives in Ho Chi Minh City, and takes care of all the families who travel to the South to adopt their children. She speaks Vietnamese, English and French. She is warm and caring, funny and playful, professional and capable.

And Loan is also the glue that held me together here.

We liked each other instantly. We got to know each other in the van on the way to Tra Vinh with Susan and Uncle Howard, to adopt Susan's little boy. We had a conversation on that trip about what I was doing (crazy!) and I told Loan that I had promised in writing that I wouldn't yell at her out of frustration if my file got held up. We kind of giggled about that, but Whoa! it could have happened! Anyhow, she said OK, don't yell at me, but you can cry on my shoulder. Whoa, that did happen!

Every Friday night, as the weekend was looming, and the police investigation had not happened, I phoned Loan (she gave me a cell phone) and cried on her shoulder. EVERY FRIDAY NIGHT! I don't know what she was doing when I called, and I don't remember even asking if she had time to chat. I just whined. And she listened, and she comforted, and I carried on.

Here are some of the wonderful things Loan has done for me:

• The first night back at the orphanage, the arrangements hadn't been relayed to the staff, and they wouldn't let me take Molly back to the hotel. One phone call from Loan, and all was well.
  
• One day I left my purse in the van that Quy had picked us up in. I couldn't communicate my panic to him, so I phoned Loan, and she made everything OK again.
  
• In the first few days back at the orphanage, she came out to Ba Ria just to see me. She took me out for dinner, and convinced me to spend the next day in Vung Tau visiting Susan, while Molly was cared for at the orphanage. She was so right, both Susan and I needed a visit with each other then.

• She had plans with friends to spend a holiday weekend in Mui Ne, and invited Molly and I to join them. I'm kinda like work for her, but we went anyways, and had a great time!


• She realized that in Mui Ne, with Molly, I didn't have any free time to get out and explore, so she did some souvenir shopping for me, and brought me two lovely bracelets on the last morning! How thoughtful is that?


• She had to make all the phone calls to invite the guests to Molly's birthday party. I tried, but I didn't want anyone to misunderstand me. I wanted them to come on the right day at the right time to the right place!


• I casually mentioned one day that I would like to travel to Dalat before I fly home with Molly, if I could find someone to go with me. So, she invited some friends and came with me! Just so that I could see some of the country while I was here.
  
• I have already posted about how hard Loan has worked on my behalf to solve the hold-up of my file. It's so fortunate that she has such good working relationships with so many people in the adoption community.


• There are probably numerous other things she has done behind the scenes that I'm not even aware of. I can't speak the language well enough to find out!

When we prepare to come to Vietnam to pick up our children, we are asked to bring gifts for some of the key people we will be involved with here, including Loan. Well, a gift from me couldn't be big enough to convey the enormous gratitude I feel for her. So, I would like to be a resource for future families preparing for travel. I know a little bit about Loan's tastes, I know the shampoo she likes, and I know a tailor in Vung Tau that has Loan's measurements.

So before we left, I asked Loan to be Molly's Vietnamese Godmother. She brought over a cake the next day, and Kinh, Ngoc and Tam (Loan's boyfriend) came over to celebrate!

At the airport, when she was seeing us off, she bent over Molly in the stroller and talked to her in Vietnamese for a few minutes. I don't know what Loan was saying to her, I just assume that she was giving her god-daughter some good advice for her life in Canada.

I will take Molly back to Vietnam, hopefully often, as she grows up. I want to keep these friendships and relationships close to both of us.