The men in my life

It seems the last few posts have been all about me. Time to get back to the little Kazman (and the reason why you read this
blog). We're one week shy of the one year anniversary of Gotcha Day—and what a year it's been. When we first got home from Kazakhstan, Garrett had no idea how to pedal a tricycle. Today, he's "this close" to losing his training wheels. He's grown almost four inches and three shoe sizes. He could barely string together three words in Kazakh, now he's communicating in 6-7 word sentences, using pronouns and adjectives (in English, no less). He can count to 40 and can complete 100 piece puzzles without help. He's gone beyond parallel play—in fact, he didn't even know how to play when we first met him. All he could do was line up his toys or clean them. He was unable to cut out a shape, skip, hop on one foot or color inside the lines. He can do all of this now, some more easily than others. To this day, he's never mentioned his previous life. Not once. When shown photos of his little buddies from the preschool, he just shrugs it off. We tell him his full name is Garrett Nurlan Williams—and the name Nurlan doesn't ring a bell (even though that's what he was called for close to 6 years). How could this be?

I just can't imagine what's going on inside his head. How do you comprehend a total life change like he's experienced? The fact that he has had to totally trust us (even though he couldn't understand a word we said). Can you imagine being almost six and having to take two long plane rides to get home? Then when you do get home, there's a dog almost as big as you are that charges at you? (Remember dogs in Kazakhstan are not pets—they just roam the streets aimlessly, scared of people.) New house, new food, new bed, new toys, new school, new boundaries. Light switches and water faucets to turn and off. Doors to open and close. A fridge packed with food you've never seen before. (Hey, where's the cabbage?) Makes my head spin. Sometimes it seems like he's so far behind yet look how much he's had to overcome. Here he is at a pancake fundraiser for his school. The first picture is of him with his Kindergarten teacher, Ms. Scott who he adores. Her son Issac happens to be Garrett's best buddy—they're inseparable. The next one he's posing with the school principal, Mrs. Nielsen. Every morning without fail Mrs. Nielsen is at the door greeting all her students.And finally, here's Garrett with Aunt Rochelle in the background. Now on to the other important man in my life: Bob. Last Tuesday was his final day at Northwest Airlines. I had planned a big surprise "early retirement" party for him but had to cancel due to my illness. (I still plan on throwing him one once I'm back to my old self.) Thankfully, one of his co-workers, Linda organized a party for him and two other "retirees"—Ken and LaVonne. I wasn't there, because I was sicker than a dog, but it sure looked like a lot of fun. Here's Bob with hair (scary picture but at least he wasn't wearing a lamp shade). I don't know if you can tell, but Bob's not wearing a wig. Look closely and you'll see LaVonne crouching behind him. It's her hair draped over his head. The things you do when you've got a little alcohol in you. The four happy retirees—from left, Lynn, Bob, Ken and LaVonne. Lynn will stay until October, which is when the Minneapolis department closes. Most of his co-workers will attempt to find jobs at the terminal while six others will relocate to Atlanta. Also at this time, the "Northwest" name goes away. Another legacy airline bites the dust. Put two bald heads together and what do you get?Bob with Linda, the organizer. Thank you Linda. And other random party photos: