A Birthday and A Journey with Princess

When we 1st saw Princess on the Special Home Find list she was 6 years old.  Now she has turned 11!

(Photo stolen from my mom- thanks mom!)

 She will be a teen in 2 years.  YIKES!

I came across an update on a story that was back from 2009 about an extremely neglected girl in the U.S. who was eventually rescued and adopted.  It was featured on Oprah.  I never saw the original show or ever heard the story. Till now.

If you want to know our story then watch click   HERE   and watch the video.  

THEIR story is OUR story. 

 I was blown away.  I have never ever run into a child that has been so similar to Princess nor a family who we could so closely identify with.

Was this girl born with some of the issues? Possibly.  Was some of it caused by her severe neglect?  Absolutely.  The affects of such neglect on the developing brain of a child is extremely profound.

 ( read The Boy Who was Raised as a Dog for more info on this.  Also Parenting the Hurt Child is excellent)

Praise God the food issues for Princess have subsided tremendously compared to this family.  It has to do with trust.  She trusts that we will feed her.  That trust was not always there and for good reason given her past( for those that don't know, Princess weighed just 12 lbs at the age of 3).

The girl in the video was older than when Princess was rescued so the girl had more years of the psychological impact of not having enough to eat. It is no wonder she has not healed yet from it and likely ever will.

But we still have food issues and Princess will still eat till she throws up if we don't keep a close eye on her.  If Princess is feeling insecure and that things are out of her control she will have food meltdowns.  It's kind of panic mode.  Food=Love to her.  I know people say this( the way to my heart is through my stomach) but you have no idea the very realness of that statement for our daughter and those that have experienced near starvation like her.

I wanted to scream,"YES! YES! YES!"  at the point in the video where the dad talks about his daughter's progression and what others might think.  My goals for Princess are EXACTLY the same as he states for his daughter.  I hate when people belittle Princess's progress because it's not what they think she should be doing.  I am offended for my daughter and the long way she has come in her journey.

Seriously, though, just sub out our faces in the video and you wouldn't even have to edit any of the dialogue or interviews.  It is OUR story.

I hope it can give you a glimpse into our world with Princess.

Many Blessings,

The Mama