Titus, the Cat, & the Hole In My Neighbors Back Yard. UNITE Linky

We talked to each other from across the chain-link fence. Mostly making silly sounds, and seeing if the other would mock or repeat them.

I was maybe six, blonde-hair….Even then, eyes seeing distant lands.

Doug? Seven-ish.

One day, Doug, from across the fence, found a shovel his dad had left in a pile of dirt, in the south-east corner of his city lot.

I went around that link-fence. We started digging. And something happened in the dirt, when we let the wildness of our imaginations lead us.

“Let’s dig to China”, one of us said.

The other lit up.

And our conversation went on to talk about how far it was…And if those in China could hear us.

We pretended to talk Chinese. We imagined what it would be like if we dug beneath the earth, all the way to the land where people looked, acted, and seemed so different from us.

Would we fall due to gravity? Change ethnicities when we got there? Would it take a hundred years, in that very small yard, to dig our way to another continent?

We imagined how impressed our parents would be, when they found out we had dug, to China…freckled face boy, and green-eyed girl….The first two children ever to dig there.

And I wonder if as kids, the world and all it’s people in it, can seem like that; small, close, capable to reach with one large scoop of the shovel?

But then, we get bigger.

We learn facts and figures, statistics, and measurements, and instead of drawing us closer, they seem to divide and distance us by social rank, economic status, race, or ethnicitiy…

And I wonder…do degrees, man’s philosophies, and so called, maturity, only make the chasm between people wider?

And people? Aren’t they not that different from each other.

And where is child-like faith? Where is our awe and wonder, and the reality that He holds the earth…This Creator?  The one connecting hearts, lands, and people, lives, and even those separated by systems, and powers, lies, and skewed thinking.

Isn’t it time we bridge the distance with love that reaches, across lives, and cultures…and even across the oceans? 

Titus was a boy I heard about from my friends at the Baobei Foundation. He was far across the world. And honestly, I doubted skyping him would make us feel any closer.

But then, the screen opened, and I see his foster mother, Jenn. She was loving, compassionate, living in China as an ex-pat…

I could see the similarities, not just in our names, but our personalities. Opening her door to Titus, until he finds his forever family.

I see Titus and his beautiful face grips me. Talking in the background, wondering what I can say to this little boy, who desperately needed a family.

But then, the cat.

Our grey, furry friend, climbs up and starts purring alongside the laptop, the place where my new little friend Titus was staring at us, a world away, in China.

Titus lights up. Starts pointing into the screen, saying, “Kitty, Kitty”.

He leans in, presses forward, and wants to jump right into the screen, the way I had tried to dig myself all the way to China.

And why is it that to children, the world seems close and reachable. But to us, as adults, we can find it vacant, hollow, and empty….Like we are dots in a galaxy, floating without anyone seeing us.

Jenn radiates with love for her little Titus. She tells me how he is smart, yet determined and willing to be all he can be.

She tells me of his diagnoses. How he is in therapy. How she truly believes he will walk one day.

I turn off the screen. Yet, my eyes are still pierced with images of little Titus reaching toward my world, as if he could warp through the screen to America, and pet our furry cat.

And yet, what if it were that easy? What if we could reach the nations by one click, transport the needy into homes that would adopt, care for, and believe in them?

What if each of us had a child-like view of the world and it’s accessibility? Wouldn’t the earth seem close (not distance), and wouldn’t we then more willingly care for one another?

I shut my laptop. Then, weep involuntarily at the thought that little children like Titus aren’t just “one dimensional imagines”, but real live children who desperately need families.

And after decades, now, finally, I feel like that little girl again, digging. Yet, this time finding break-through to another world.

Titus and me, not that different, him trying to jump through the screen into my country, but just needing half a chance.

My friend, Doug and I never did make it to China. (Just in case you couldn’t guess) In fact, we maybe dug two feet, and ended up giving up on our dream of digging our way to another continent.

My little friend at the chain-link fence, ended up going on to be a lawyer.

I eventually flew to China. Not once, but three times, because I am guessing, China has been in my heart ever since trying to dig myself there as a child.

But, as I have grown and learned that reaching the nations isn’t as easy as picking up your father’s shovel, I also know people out there, in other continents, are closer to us than we think.

Little boys like Titus are waiting. They need families. Many have special needs, and just need someone to pick up the shovel, believing….They can dig their way towards changing a child’s life, forever.

Could you be the forever family Titus is looking for?  Look at this face. This is a boy who will make one family, extremely happy!

TITUS

Could you be his Mama?

Come on, tell me….Isn’t Titus the CUTEST lil’ guy you have EVER seen? O.k. So, here is a little more about Titus.

Titus’ birthday is February 5th. He is standing, holding onto things, and has been in the most loving healing home, in preparation for adoption.

Titus’ foster mom says he is a “Go with the flow” kinda kid, yet at the same time, determined. This is a boy with an incredible combination of just the right stuff to make one family extremely happy!

Titus is a great eater, and loves noodles, animals (as you can tell by him practically leaping through the computer to pet our cat) nursery rhymes, and Sponge Bob.

Titus is smart too. He understands both English and Mandarin, and has no cognitive delays. Titus does have one kidney which can cause UTI’s, and Spina Bifida, but is in great health!

Titus charms everyone with his flirtatious personality and he is ready to take on the world!If you want more info on Titus, please e-mail me at cjavellaneda@gmail.com.

Will you PLEASE share this post, so that we can find little Titus’ forever home?