I was alerted to an upcoming show on PBS by way of Facebook. I made a mental note to tune in at 10pm on Monday night. My mental notes are not as reliable as they used to be so I arrived a little late for the start (which I will catch up on later) but I saw enough. Enough to make me cry, and ponder, and wish.
The full episode is not available yet but here is a very short teaser:
http://video.pbs.org/video/2365317413/
**UPDATE*** Here is the link to the full length video
http://video.pbs.org/video/2365338330/
Twin Sisters is a short documentary about two little girls adopted from China at the same time. Their parents were told that they were not sisters but as the families kept in contact over the years through exchanging pictures it was evident that they were, in fact, identical twins.
Now, I am pretty sure that Pearl does not have an identical twin sister, so why were tears streaming down my face for the final 20 minutes of the show? Because chances are Pearl does have a brother or sister, or maybe both, somewhere in Hunan Province. There are cute little people who share her genetic make-up, her mannerisms, her language and culture who she was meant to grow up with. If she had been given a choice four years ago, if magically she could have had a voice the day she was abandoned, she would have stayed right where she was born--where God created her to be.
Learning the Chinese language.
Fighting over cheap Chinese toys with her siblings.
Eating spicy Hunan dishes.
Sharing a bed with family members.
Her love for them would have been pure and natural. I truly believe Pearl would have been a completely different child emotionally had she not been abandoned.
I ache to see that child.
To hear those giggles--the natural ones---of siblings giggling over silly games. With no fear or thoughts as to whether an emotion is safe to express.
Abandonment is robbery.
Pearl's siblings were stolen from her.
I can't replace those relationships.
And so I cry for her, and her siblings.
Adoption is so unnatural to me when I see shows like Twin Sisters.
But then I wake up to a new day
And I see this child starting to let down her walls and learn what brothers and sisters really are.
They are the ones who twirl you on swings....
Teach you how to ham it up for the camera,
give you bunny ears in pictures,
and pull you around the house in a laundry basket.
And I realize that adoption may be unnatural but
redemption is beautiful.
Not sure if you found the full length already. If not it is posted on my local PBS. http://video.pbs.org/video/2365338330/
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