Tomoorrow the Williams family gains a new member from Africa.
Hi! This is Kelly Maureen Williams writing!
Tomorrow is THE day, the day where our new sister, Anna Grace (now known as Abayomi Chipo) joins us and becomes a family member! She is on her way right now; and sometime tomorrow she will land at the airport, and we will go and pick her up!
Our sister is from Africa, and like our one sister, Mia, she stepped on a mine and lost her legs. She is learning how to walk on artificial legs and on crutches; and she is also learning English! It shouldn't take TOO long for her to adapt to us or to her new life in America, but I am sure that she will be scared to death for a while. I know I was when I first came to the family! (All of the girls went through a period of fear and adjusting once we came to the family, but eventually we all got used to it, and we got used to one another; and now we can't seem to get along WITHOUT each other!)
As you can imagine, there is a lot of excitement at our house! Our mom's mother, Adel, and also her sister, our Auntie Ruby, are over; they are going to help out while we get Abayomi at the airport and bring her home; and they will probably stay at least a week or two, just to make things a bit easier on mama. Mama isn't well herself, not with her headaches (but since having the surgery, the headaches haven't been quite as severe!), plus she is in a wheelchair due to spina bifida; and sometimes she needs help, especially with the little ones or with Mariah, or with Linda. Linda may be the oldest girl, but sometimes she does things that are totally off the wall, and sometimes she wanders off by herself; and then we are all in a panic because we can't find her, and we are scared that she may be taken by a stranger or will get hurt. She may be 14, but she is more like a seven-year-old, and sometimes she doesn't always listen or understand why she can't do certain things. Mariah is nine, but she is more like a baby with her autism, and she has no sense of fear or danger; and she is locked inside her own little world a lot of the times, and it is as though she is deaf because half of the time she acts like she doesn't even hear us, even when we yell her name over and over. And, of course, you have Wendy and Keisha, who are just little kids anyway, and you know how toddlers are...they can get into mischief before you can turn your head, and they can get into trouble at a moment's notice! Now, Mia, Sally, Sarah, and Kim aren't TOO bad (as isn't Mary or Frannie), but when it comes to people like Mariah, Wendy, Linda, and Keisha, one really has to be careful!
I am really looking forward to meeting Abayomi--I mean ANNA--; she seems like a very happy kid, and we have already talked with her on the phone a few times; and she is looking forward to meeting us and having a family that she can call her own! We are looking forward to having Anna join us, too; the feeling is mutual!! She seems to be a very nice kid with a happy nature about her, and she seems to be quite smart for her age!
Today we are a family of twelve; tomorrow, we will become a family of thirteen: one mama, and 12 kids, all girls! Boy, I really can't wait until tomorrow; for tomorrow is the day when Anna Grace comes into our family all the way from Africa; and tomorrow Abayomi Chipo will become known as Anna Grace Chipo Williams!!!!
~Kelly Williams, aged 11--Written on the last day of April, April 30, 2004, at 10:13 a.m., California Time.
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