It's easy to write about Laina. Everyone comments on how smart Laina is, how clever, how funny, how crazy. She's like commenting on how big the ocean is, or how tall the empire state building is. She's so out there that it's impossible to ignore her. She refuses to let people ignore her. I haven't written about Min too much, since it's so easy to write about Laina. That's not fair, is it? Let me tell you about Min.
Most people don't really know about Min. She gets the shadows of the spotlight that fall on Laina. Min is very smart, she figures things out very quickly, but she's also even tempered and sometimes, although she figures out that things work one way or another, she'll do things in her own time and in her own way. She's even tempered and it takes so much for her to lose her temper, which is good, considering her hair trigger sister. Min is sensitive and doesn't like people to be sad or mad. She also wants her own way and will pout and cry if she doesn't get it. Don't we all, though. She's a little girl who has been alive not quite 4 years and has already been through so much. When you stop and think what this little one has been through in four years, it's staggering. She was abandoned by the woman who gave birth to her. She was brought into institutional care where she lived for a couple of months. She was brought into a family that fostered her, a loving home, but a little less than stable. Her foster sister was adopted a couple of months before she was, a loss for her that she cried about when we met her. In her mind, Laina has been merged with the memory of her foster sister, Zi Qin. I asked Min who Zi Qin was and she said, "it's Laina". She won't process until she's older, that Zi Qin is now called Zoe and lives with a family somewhere in Florida. Min has left her home city which she still remembers and has taken this town as her home. She has accepted me and Jorg as her parents. When you ask her about China, she says very matter of factly that she was living in China waiting for us to come get her.
When we met her, Min didn't do many things. She didn't take off her clothes by herself. She couldn't get dressed by herself. She didn't walk very far. She didn't sleep by herself. She didn't swing, slide or jump. Taking a shower or a bath was terrifying for her. She can do all of those things now, plus many other things. She's learned English so quickly. She's retaining her Manderin with much effort, but we're trying to keep it up.
She's silly and likes to dance and sing. She bites when she's mad. She can be naughty and sabatoges Laina sometimes. She's sweet and funny. She likes to draw and paint. She's afraid of dogs and bears. She hated the beach and now she loves the beach. She can swing on the swings all by herself. She likes to shop. She likes to play in the yard with the water hose and also dig dirt in the garden.
She isn't the force of nature power house that her sister is. Min is more of a sweet and beautiful breeze. She's soft and easy to be with. She can sometimes cause a squall, but for the most part, she's so pleasant to be around. Sweet and beautiful Min, we're so happy you're with us!
