hajari

As I woke this morning I noticed that the date on my phone was April 27...some people are more apt to knowing dates than others...I not being one of them. So even when I saw the date in my 6am delirium, I was pleasantly surprised. For today is Hajari's birthday. It snuck up on me this year, thus giving me all the more vigor to think of him throughout the day. Hajari was born six years ago, April 27, 2004, just six weeks before I arrived at Mother's Choice orphan home in Hong Kong for the summer months.

It is there that I fell in love with this chunky mohawked child, and for the briefest of moments, I became his adoring caretaker (along with many others, but I was the most obsessed). He was adopted to a local Hong Kong couple that November, and though I have been unable to stay in touch and see him grow, I have all the confidence that he is well loved and cared for. I smile thinking of how he's spending his sixth birthday, what friends he has made, what sport or toy he is most enamored with, etc. So while I think of him today, here are a few of those photos from our summer together.