by *Laurie Delatour
“An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance” (Chinese proverb).
For my family, that red thread has been stitched around the world several times. Seven years ago, I began my attempt to persuade my parents to adopt a little girl from China. Today, that little girl celebrates her 7th birthday and almost two years of being a part of our family. Every year for my birthday, my parents asked me to make a list of what I would like, and I always filled every single line of the paper, front and back, with the word “sister.” Then, when it came time to blow out my candles, I carefully placed my hair behind my shoulders, puffed out my cheeks, closed my eyes, and blew out the candles wishing for a sister. If only I had known the extent of what I was wishing.
One Monday night I had finally completed my hours of homework and was packing my backpack for the following day when a little yellow post-it-note fell out of one of my binders. I picked it up expecting to read something along the lines of “English paper due Monday.” But instead, I saw: “I love you Laurie, love Lily.” Those words reminded me of how empty my life was before Lily arrived. Not a day goes by that I do not find a picture or a little note on my dresser, or my favorite, a post-it-note on the banister when I arrive home from school. These common phrases seem to capture so much of what my life is defined by, now that my sister is here. They are pure messages from the heart.
As I sit at my computer doing homework in the farthest corner of my parents’ bedroom, my sister often runs in to ask me if I will take a break to play with her. A couple of years ago, I would not have considered disrupting my homework to play. But today, there is nothing more I would rather do than watch Lily dress up as a cowgirl ready to saddle up and hit the lonely trail, or a prom queen decked out from head to toe. Somehow, my sister has managed to make our hectic life seem a bit calmer by continually reminding us of how important we are to each other.
Her little notes have come to take on many different forms over the past two years, yet each one carries the same loving message. Her favorite thing to write with is a red crayon with its outer wrapping slowly peeling off. With this crayon, she constructs masterpieces of lines, swirls, and boxes. The other day she handed me a blue crayon, and asked me to draw a picture. After about five minutes, she inquired why I had not begun and I simply replied that I could not think of anything to draw. She looked at me with large brown eyes full of excitement and love and said, “It doesn’t really matter because I will like it whatever it is.” I ended up drawing a simple picture of her and me holding hands, and sure enough, she took two pieces of tape and stuck it to our bedroom door, which has become a patchwork quilt of all her masterpieces. Now, whenever I enter our room, I look at that picture and think about how lonely I would be without that small delicate hand to grasp. I know that no matter what I do or what I become, she will love me. She has inspired me to aim high, and to settle for nothing less.
For five years, she never held a crayon or pencil, and now she has boxes full. The majority of her messages we can decipher if we have the patience, but the last three words are always perfectly clear. I love you. Before she could speak in complete sentences, she was able to carefully inscribe these three words on everything she wrote. Patiently she sat with a piece of paper and her red crayon and made sure that every letter was drawn just as she had been taught. If the letters did not appear as she wanted, she started again. In every aspect of her life, her determination allows her to surmount any obstacle, from threading a needle to making a quilt. My sister’s determination has inspired us all, and her spirit has taught us a lot about persevering, even when things seem impossible.
Post-it-notes all embody s
ome form of a reminder and are meant to be brief. From five or six words, you are to figure out what the deeper meaning is behind the simple stitches. For me, it only took three words. Three words that I have heard all my life yet always took for granted. Seeing them on paper, etched in flawed, yet beautiful, handwriting seems to give them a completely new connotation. I have taken those three words and am still working towards discovering their greater significance, but I know that all along the way, I will always have little reminders to keep me on track. My sister has helped me to realize that by making a difference in one life, big or small, you will make a difference in the world. After all, a tiny yellow post-it-note made all the difference for me.
Today is Lily’s seventh birthday, and as she carefully kneels on the kitchen chair, making sure that her hair is behind her shoulders, she puffs out her cheeks, closes her eyes, and blows with all her might on the seven little candles illuminating the pink frosted cake. I wonder for what she has wished. My wish has come true in so many more ways than I could have ever imagined. Life without Lily truly is incomprehensible, for the words “I love you” are stitched into every one of our hearts in the simple penmanship.
The Chinese proverb continues, “The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break” (Chinese proverb).
* Editor’s Note: Laurie Delatour was 16 when she wrote this story.
Last year Holt matched many children with families through the China Child of Promise option, and many of these families are already home and in process for another child from China!
