Two of Hearts: Maylia's Miracle Pt 1

"It's probably my white coat," she laughed. For whatever reason, Maylia had become anxious and clingy. She had been doing so well around new people , I was surprised to see her so nervous. " I bet it's my white coat," she insisted. And I finally decided she was right. The past few weeks for Maylia had included a number of Doctor and clinic appointments. She had been poked and prodded, weighed, measured, checked and re-checked again. So when we met a friend of mine at the hospital where she worked, as we were on our way to our first cardiologist appointment, I finally had to agree, that her white lab coat was what set her off. Not a great omen.

We had been so fortunate to get into see the cardiologist as soon as we had. After Dr. Baxter had seen Maylia at the international adoption clinic, she sent in a referral to the Stollery Pediatric Cardiology. But she had also told us, that with Maylia doing so well that it would probably be at least 6 months before we got in. So, needless to say, we were surprised when they called to book an appointment just a few weeks later.

After visiting with Christy, she walked us through the maze of elevators and corridors to the Stollery Cardiology Unit.

We checked in and sat in the waiting room and I was amazed at how busy it was. It struck me how many families -- how many children -- struggle with health challenges. There were infants, toddlers, children and teens, all waiting with their concerned parents to be seen. I felt so lucky that Maylia's health had been so good to this point. Now we were just waiting to confirm if we would continue to be so lucky.

We were called in to the first room where they would take her measurements. Maylia seemed to know exactly what was going on and began whimpering -- then crying -- then outright screaming. We couldn't get her to stand on the scale and it took two of us to hold her on the counter so they could measure her height. After struggling for several minutes with her they took us to the hallway where they would tape a monitor to her toe to check her blood pressure. Cue more wriggling, crying and screaming. After kicking it off for the third time, the patient, but clearly concerned attendant said , " I don't know if we will be able to do this today ."

After discussing it with her we decided that , despite my willingness to hold her down, the only way to get accurate readings would be to sedate her -- and that would mean coming back on another day. Though I wasn't keen on having to come back again, the most important thing was to do this right so I went back out to reception where they could re-schedule us. Fortunately , they could book us in for that Friday, so two days later we were back again.

This time was a little more challenging. Not only would Maylia know exactly what was going to happen when we entered the hospital, this time, due to the sedative they would give her, she had to come fasting. No solid food after 6 a.m. and no liquids of any kind after 9 a.m.

This was going to be a treat.

Kung Hei Fat Choy!

It is only fitting that mere weeks after making -- and then breaking --  my first New Years' resolutions, I get an opportunity to try again. Let's hear it for Chinese New Year, or, as it is better known, the Lunar Festival or the Spring Festival. But, with Snowy clouds covering our Edmonton moon, and frigid temperatures smothering anything spring, Chinese New Year it will  be.

We had been looking forward to beginning this new tradition, a way to keep our family connected to Maylia's culture, and a way to keep Maylia connected to an important part of her identity and history. I wanted to celebrate it in a simple but meaningful way and read what I could about it. After reading on line and speaking with friends who also celebrate it, I concluded that Chinese New Year was really about 3 things : Food, Family & Fun.
And so with that code of cultural conduct in mind we set out to do just that. Because we hadn't had a Shipley get together in a while we invited Todd's parents and siblings to join us on Saturday( those siblings who lived close enough to come). WalMart supplied the decorations, and Costco most of the food. We totalled 23, thanks to Ryah who had been born earlier that week. All the kids had a great time together -- though you wouldn't know it because as the hostess, I forgot to delegate photography duties.    We ate, drank and made merry, and had about as many appetizers as we had people. We definitely put the 'Fat' in Kung Hei Fat Choy!
Just like I've tried to do at Christmas, every year we'll try to add a little more to the celebrations -- (maybe a MahJong tournament?! )And because of where we are fortunate to live, that should be easily done.
What a blessing to live in a country, a city -- and more especially,  a family and church community where Maylia won't ever be far from that important part of her. Edmonton is one of many cities in Canada with a thriving Chinese culture. Even the Muttart conservatory's show pyramid is dedicated to The Year of the Horse. Edmonton Public Schools has received international acclaim for their Chinese Language Programs, with instruction at the elementary, Jr. High and High School levels -- one of which conveniently located across the street from us. Edmonton's Confucius Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting Chinese culture and language has also been recognized for the second time in 3 years for outstanding innovation in Chinese language education. http://confuciusedmonton.ca

Amongst our friends and our church community we are no less blessed. We have friends who are Chinese and friends who have served Chinese speaking missions. Most recently the church has placed several Mandarin speaking missionaries here and the church itself has even developed a website for Chinese nationals who join the church outside of China. http://www.mormonsandchina.org


But it is perhaps in our own family where our connections to China are even more remarkable. A few years ago, when we first began the adoption process we had begun the application for Thailand. With Todd speaking Thai from his missionary service there, the visits we had enjoyed to that country --( not to mention he great food!), to adopt from Thailand seemed like a natural fit . A couple of years later, when the Thailand program folded and we switched our application to China, we quickly realized that we had an even greater connection to that great country:

- Both Todd's Dad and my uncle served their missions in Hong Kong
- Todd's parents served another mission in China, teaching English in Beijing and delivering wheelchairs as part of the church's humanitarian efforts
- Another of my uncles married ( his second wife) who was from China; they had a child, a daughter , who now lives in California.
- Perhaps most extraordinarily, 40 years ago my grandparents themselves adopted a little girl here in Alberta -- herself 1/2 Chinese. Her and her husband now have 4 children. One of their sons served a mission to Taiwan, came home and married a Chinese girl and they have a darling daughter of their own.


I spoke with my grandmother recently about all of this and she said had been speaking to my grandfather about the very same thing.   " When we were growing up" she said, " the only Chinese people we knew were the ones who owned a local restaurant and some friends we had met in Hawaii.  Then, when we were starting our family, never in our wildest dreams did we ever think that we ourselves would be blessed with these wonderful Chinese grandchildren and great-grandchildren. "

In some ways it feels like we've come full circle, with my grandparents adopting in one generation and we adopting in another one. Perhaps that circle can best be represented by another Chinese tradition or philosophy rather : the Yin-Yang, or 'seemingly opposite or contrary forces' which are in fact 'interconnected and interdependent'.
If it's true that  " Yin and yang can be thought of as complementary (instead of opposing) forces interacting to form a dynamic system in which the whole is greater than the parts, "  then our little Maylia Wei Yang, completes and connects our family, our Yin,  together. She is the sunny side that lights and delights our Shipley shade. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yin_and_yang She's the one that makes our family whole.

Now that's a tradition worth celebrating.