The Beginning of Our Story . . .

Eli was born in Guatemala and was raised by the Cordovas for the first 10 months of her life while the legal paperwork went through. During this time she lived with her foster sisters Lashmi and Ximena. She was adopted by a wonderful family from Madison, Wisconsin.

When I graduated with my undergraduate degree in Art Education I moved to Guatemala to teach middle school art for 2 1/2 years. During this time I had knee pain from running. After and MRI the doctor in Guatemala told me I had torn my meniscus and needed surgery. When I went back to my hometown of Madison, Wisconsin for the surgery the doctor told me that my knee was fine and I needed physical therapy. My new physical therapist, Doug, told me they adopted their daughter Eli from Guatemala and asked if I could take some gifts back to her foster family. I was excited to reach out to a Guatemalan family and became the courier service taking gifts between both families each time I visited the United States. I cooked dinner, attended Lashmi's First Communion, and visited the Cordovas regularly. They took me in as one of their own and became my Guatemalan family.

During my second year teaching in Guatemala I helped run the eternal flame lit in the Obilisco to our school, a tradition of Independence Day. Gaby, a senior at the school, also ran and we began to talk. Afterwards Gaby and I continued to run the track at the school once a week. As our friendship grew we would spend time together in my classroom after school, we cooked together, and stayed active with yoga and other things. Gaby became such an important part of my life and part of my Guatemalan family.

This week was the first time our whole multicultural family has been together. What a gift it has been, a magical time. Despite the distance and years that go by between visits, it feels like I've never left and the family is complete.