Harvest's Story

Hi everyone! My name is Harvest Joy Keeney and I live in the valley of California, also known as Visalia. It isn't exactly what everyone thinks California is, but I mean, it's not too bad. There are many Asian people in the area, but few are Chinese, few (if any) are adopted, and none are named Harvest, except for me of course. I wrote my story a little bit different than everyone else. I wrote this about my experience reuniting with my orphanage, but also connected it with my adoption and life as a Chinese girl in America :-) (I'm sorry if it's a little long and the spacing is weird.)

It was this summer when I went on one of the greatest adventures I had ever encountered. My mom and I departed from the L.A.X Airport on June 28^th, and thirteen hours later, arrived in the Beijing Capital International Airport. Little did I know that later in the week; I would visit one of the Seven Wonders of the World, The Great Wall of China; eat scorpion in a market downtown of Beijing; hug a panda; meet three beautiful friends I am still in touch with today; and experience something else that was far beyond amazing.  

           

As the trip to China came to its end, there was one last thing that my mom and I had

planned to do. We were going to travel to the country side of Si Chuan province and visit my

orphanage in De Yang, China. My loving parents had adopted me when I was only fourteen

months old. Now, twelve years later after some very tough years when the adoption of my little sister did not work out and when my father's deteriorating health led to his death; my mother and I had come back to China to reunite with the people that once took care of me before my life in America.

The car ride to our destination was filled with a whirl wind of mixed emotions. When the  vehicle stopped, my heartbeat did as well. I looked out the car window once again and gazed upon a large building. The sky was grey and hazy and the weather was muggy. I felt goose bumps as I got out of the car and stepped on the ground before the place I lived twelve years ago. My mother and I entered the building and up the stairs to the office of the orphanage director, Mrs. Wu. Once she saw us, she gave us a warm welcome and called me by my Chinese name, Minxia. As we sat down in her office, my mom and I began to cry because this was a very emotional experience. I think I began to cry not only because this was really happening, but because Mrs. Wu remembered me. I felt relieved that the situation was not awkward, but as if it was just yesterday that I still lived in the orphanage.               

           

Later that day, I was able tour the rest of the orphanage and see many of the children that

were waiting to be adopted, just like I was. I also met the other women that worked at the

orphanage, including the ones that took care of me. All of them were very excited to see me and greeted me with many hugs. In addition to being reunited with the women who took care of me, I also was privileged to meet two girls that used to play with me. They were now twenty, and one of them was married. Although they had their own lives now, the orphanage allowed them to spend the night if they ever wanted to, because they were like family.        

           

Unfortunately the time came for me to leave the orphanage and fly back to America. Mrs.

Wu and everybody else at the orphanage took lots of pictures with me, wished my mother and I well, and invited me to come back and visit soon. Before our reunion, I was so scared of what they would think of me and nervous of what they would say. Nevertheless, I had nothing to worry about because Mrs. Wu and the other women treated me like family, because I still was family to them.

 I  have experienced many bumpy roads in my life in America and I know there are still more to come. I have struggled with my friends, family, and also being confident in myself; but I have never struggled with the fact that I was adopted. I know my birth mother abandoned me for a reason and I know she did it out of love. She wanted me to have a better life. I was also blessed with an orphanage that took very good care of me before my life in the USA began. The love that the women at the orphanage embraced me with broke the ice between feeling nervous and feeling at home. Part of my heart will always stay in China, and with the people that are my second family.