Two Families Forever Bonded
Contributed by: David Hunt The picture came over computer and printed out one line at a time starting from the top. "Come on, come on" Kari screamed in her office. First came the golden hair, then the forehead, and then the eyes. The picture could have stopped right there and the computer frozen forever, for Kari knew in her heart that this child was to be hers. All at once a rush of emotion came over her and she began to weep at her desk. This was it. This was the child that was to be with her for the rest of her life. Before David saw the picture himself, he cautioned Kari to not get attached, that something could still go wrong. The stark silence on the other end of Kari's telephone, as the picture emailed to David slowly loaded to his computer, told her that he was a goner, too. David knew then that the reason he'd been born was to be the father of this child. Nothing would stop them now from becoming this boy's parents.
The attacks of September 11 brought unspeakable terror and destruction to America, the likes of which it had never seen before. The couples had good reason to turn their attention to something other than the adoptions. But, between feeling numb and sorrowful for those who had died and their families who survived them, came the thought of the boys. Were they safe? Would the couples be safe coming home from trips overseas? Would the boys be unjustly sought out and punished for being with the couples because they were American? The couples wanted their boys home as quickly as possible. However, that would not be the reality. The State Department issued travel advisory warning to all Americans traveling abroad, which meant the agency was not going to send any families until the advisory warning was lifted. The travel advisory was set to last six months. So the wait was on again.
Videotape was available of the boys and was given the couples periodically, a great relief so they could see the boys and know they were safe. Each couple received their own videotape, which focused primarily on their respective sons. "Funny how this one little boy is always in the picture with Trey" said Ruth Ellen. "They seem to be great friends," she continued to remark to Bill.
During a break at one of the regular agency meetings, the Hunts had pictures of Vladdy and were happy to show anyone who would care to take a look. "That's the boy," said Ruth Ellen. "That's the little boy in the video with Trey." The Hunts were given a copy of the video and saw the two boys together. What an incredible thought, that the two boys, who were such good friends in an orphanage in St. Petersburg, Russia, would soon travel half way around the world and be able to live only a three-hour drive away from each other. The couples agreed then that they would commit to each other to arrange a visit each month so the boys could see each other.
The agency decided that if the parents wanted to travel at this time that they would be allowed to go as long as they had received the invitation from Russia. The Heatons traveled in September for their first trip to see Trey. Although the couples did not get to travel to Russia together, they were there simultaneously. The Heatons were visiting for the second time and the Hunts were on their first trip. By the time the Hunts arrived the Heatons were already allowed to take Trey from the orphanage while they awaited their call to Moscow. The Hunts were then able to meet the boy who had been their son's best friend for his first three years of life. All Vladdy and Trey had known were the orphanage and each other. Trey had no idea that he would ever see Vladdy again, and Vladdy thought he had lost his friend forever, left alone in the orphanage where they had been since birth. The winters in St. Petersburg are bitterly cold, but this one was especially harsh for two native sons.
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