Hey everyone,
I know no one is really tuning into this blog anymore… can’t really blame you since I stopped writing a few weeks ago. Believe me when I say that the past few weeks have been more centered on my niece Lexi than on Tonya, though Tonya continues to be a daily subject for Joanne and I. BTW, Happy 12th Birthday to Lexi today! I’ll be going to visit her later.
The past few weeks have been very discouraging on the ‘Tonya front’. First off, the team from New Horizons who went to visit the orphanages and deliver the gift bags STOPPED sending email updates once they got to Russia. When the team returned to the U.S. a few days ago, they summed up their visits in an email, mentioning Tonya’s orphanage by name (actually number), but making no mention of her. They mentioned other kids who had been hosted in the past, but not the 2 who were hosted this summer. It was quite frustrating, and Joanne was quick to write to them and ask.
I’m not sure if I mentioned in a past post that Tonya had left her mp3 player in the car when she was dropped off at JFK airport. Since this was her prize possession, Jo and I spent nearly $50 to ship it out to her so she could have it back ASAP. (Note: While she was here, I spent $50 for a universal power adapter that would let her charge it in Russia. Ironically, I think the mp3 player itself cost $50, so you can understand why I REALLY want her to have it back.) We shipped the package so it would be trackable, and every few days I would get an update on it. As of 3 weeks ago I learned that it had cleared Russian customs and that ‘a delivery attempt was made’. I heard nothing else since, so I just assumed she got it. A few days ago I got a call from the Postal Center Store and was told, “Your package to Russia is here.” Apparently the orphanage REFUSED IT!! So, now I don’t really know what to do with it.
So imagine how bad Jo and I felt. We had no idea if Tonya ever received her luggage, her gift bag, and now we know she didn’t get her mp3 player. It really weighed on us and we wondered if she even remembered us at all. It all seems so long ago. Last night, however, while ‘playing around’ with stereo equipment, I heard Joanne yell from upstairs… “We have a photo!!”. Sure enough, the New Horizons team had sent us a photo of Tonya holding her gift bag. We could tell by the shirt she was wearing that she had received her luggage too. I only wish to heck we had put the mp3 player in that bag. So, I am going to share this photo with you… the first photographic evidence we have that Tonya is alive out there, somewhere. As always, thanks for tuning in.
Tonya at the Orphanage
