The Happiest Day in the Orphanage

Chloe brought some life into the orphanage today. Last night, Teo shared an article on facebook about 50 balloons being in a room and people helping each other find balloons with their own name on it in the room. But the accompanying picture showed a room full to the brim with balloons- way more than 50. Chloe commented, “That's way more than 50! But there's only one way to find out. We'll definitely have to test this sometime.” Teo jokingly commented, “The birthday party tomorrow will be the perfect time.” Chloe said, “Oh my gosh. I have balloons. We're totally doing it.” Teo insisted that she had balloons in her office already, but Chloe said, “We're bringing more.”

Sure enough, Teo had 10 balloons blown up already by the time Chloe arrived at the orphanage, and Chloe and Madeline brought way more, so they spent from 9-9:45 blowing up balloons. Teo said, “Oh, my boss is going to be so mad at me.” If it was me, I would have been like, “Oh, I'm sorry. We can throw all the balloons away.” But no- Chloe's like, “No- it'll be fine!” Teo said, “That's enough” after about 20. Chloe said, “Wait, how old is the doctor?” “And the child?” “Well, then we have a lot more to go!” Little did Teo know- Chloe and Madeline would end up blowing up over 100 balloons. Workers helped hang them up in the kitchen.

I had no idea this was all going on. When M left for his usual 10:00 snack, Cristina brought me back a coconut cupcake as a snack for me, but M didn't come back. I continued practicing walking with A, and she somehow communicated to me in Romanian that I somehow understood that it was D's birthday and they were having a party in the kitchen and I could go see if I wanted to, and I could put A down. 

So, I did. Holy moly. I was not expecting what I saw. I thought there would be a bunch of kids sitting at the table like usual, eating cake, with a few toy presents on a table. Oh, heavens no. There were balloons everywhere. About 30 hung up around the ceilings of the room. Chloe later told me that when the kitchen sang the traditional “Multi ani treasca” happy birthday song, Chloe and Madeline threw all the other balloons through the serving window and all the kids started jumping up in their seats, they were so excited. I thought the workers would be sushing the children, telling them to sit down and finish their snack so they could go back to their room. 

Nope. All the kids were gobbling down their cake, and there were chocolate cookies and coconut cupcakes and orange soda, and the workers were very kindly offering to get refills of orange soda for all the kids that were still sitting at the table. Most of the kids were up- playing with all the mountains of balloons on the floor.

It was so crowded. All the doctors, all the physical therapists, all the workers, everyone was in the room. No one wanted to miss the party. And all the adults were holding balloons in their hands, popping kids on the head or encouraging the kids to dance. With all the squealing and hollering from the kids who maybe have never played with balloons before- it was so so loud. But hey- Teo plugged in some speakers and pumped up the tunes and played the “Happy” song by Pharrel Williams. My favorite song. And the Dr? The boss Teo was sure would be angry? Well- she was popping all the kids on the head with balloons too. In fact, she got the birthday boy and said, “Hai- uite-” Come here- look. And with her long nails- she popped a balloon. Suddenly tons of balloons were popping everywhere and everyone was squealing and laughing. And, in the mist of all the chaos, Chloe is blowing bubbles over the crowd. And laughing. Everyone was laughing. It was the most happening, and happy party I perhaps have ever been too. Well, I don't know. Peters family reunions get pretty epic during the dance parties....

But this was different. This was a party... in the orphanage. And to see all the fatigued workers- laughing. That was amazing. To see the young physical therapist with red scrubs put a balloon over A's feet and see him jump and kick in his wheelchair with energy I've never seen him have before, and laugh. That was a miracle. To see Dr. popping balloons to make kids laugh. That was a miracle. To see kids that are usually so desperate for attention- with such severe attachment disorders that usually see me and cling to me at once- to see them look at me, smile, and then sit down and eat cake or pop more balloons. That was a miracle. To see them satisfied with life. For once. Not needing more. It was heaven. Heaven in Sfanta Andrei's Section 2 orphanage.

It also proved to me- that different people can do different miracles in different places at different times, and God places us in situations where He knows we can be His hands for Him. If it was me- I definitely wouldn't have pushed the limits on birthday parties in the orphanage and risked getting a severe lecture on trying to control the children. But it was Chloe- and she just kept blowing up over 100 balloons, and everyone loved it. It had to be Chloe. Section 2 needed her Chloey-ness to be heaven. 

It was the happiest day in the Orphanage.