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Show Happiness found in Bucharest orphange Romania adoptions bring joy, tears adopt, it was still painful for them to see all of the suffering children. The Nelsons did a lot of crying while they were there. "You cry because your personal SEE KIDS ON A-3 - (Editor's note: Life in the struggling nation of Romania is so harsh thousands of children are given up to orphanages by parents who cannot afford them. ; In the first of a two-part series, a Bountiful couple describes the -watershed of joy and tears adopting adop-ting in Bucharest brings.) : By KRIS JOHNSON : Staff Writer - BOUNTIFUL After trekking through miles of red tape in com- munist Romania for a month, Garth and Carylyn Nelson brought home -two little girls, and stark memories ! of an impoverished nation. ; Alina, 9, and Irina, 5, the Nelsons' new daughters, had lived in a Bucharest orphanage. Conditions Condi-tions there were so primitive the little girls hadn't even learned to use eating utensils when the Nelsons found them and undertook adoption proceedings. The Bountiful couple decided to adopt in Romania when they saw a haunting program on ABC-TV's "2020" program which discussed the harsh plight in the nation's overcrowded orphanages. Thousands of Romanian children are given up by their natural parents and do not receive the love and care that they need. Many are malnourished and mentally defec- tive from lack of care, the nationally broadcast program said. . After the "2020" program was aired in November, people throughout the United States, the Nelsons among them, began traveling travel-ing to Romania to adopt the impoverished impov-erished children. The Nelsons, who had been trying try-ing to adopt in America for nine years, felt "driven" to go to Romania and try for adoption after seeing the show. "When we saw these two girls, we knew for some reason that they were meant for us," Carylyn said. "These two little girls came up to us and they sparkled, they were adorable. There were so many beautiful beau-tiful children, you want to bring all of them home. We spent many nights crying. How do you choose?" said Carylyn. When the Nelsons went to the Romanian orphanage, the oldest girl, Alina, ran up to her translator and asked if the Nelsons were English or American. The translator informed Alina that they were American. She then asked the translator, "How do you say, 'I love you in American?" Once she found out, she ran up to the Nelsons and whispered in their ears, "I love you and I want to go to America." The Nelsons knew immediately that little Alina was meant for them. Then they went into another classroom where they saw Irina and they were instantly captured by her smile. "When the translator brought her over to us, she reached up and grabbed both of us and gave us hugs and kisses. She would not let go of us," said Garth. The Nelsons said that even though they decided quickly on which girls they would V jt- , . --'w J I -A-'- ' ) 0 J J t &- s''l - mw r 1 i t & "' 4 I , , J X Garth Nelson (left) looks on as Carylyn Nelson prepares to read a book to Alina, 9 and Irina, 5, while David Nelson, 9, watches. The pair of Romanian girls must learn the English language in order to communicate verbally with family, friends, and school mates. (Clipper photo by Patrick Mitchell) i Kids CONTINUED FROM A-l I emotions are pushed to the limit; I you're making decisions about I human lives. You're seeing hu- I maniry at its worst. You cry and I you hurt, and you say this can't be I real," saidCarylyn. I "You walk into the orphanage I and there are some 300 kids and I they're all crying, 'I love you. I Please hold me,' and you start look- I ing and you know they're human I beings and want some nurturing," Garth said. "These kids are spirits, I they have lives, and so you cry as you see all the children and you have to recompose yourself." Garth said he felt fortunate that the two girls stuck out, because it helped the Bountiful couple to make their decision. The Nelsons had to get written permission to adopt the girls from their legal Romanian parents, who had turned them into the orphanages. or-phanages. Neither of the girls ever bonded with their parents, said Garth. Gar-th. 4 I When the youngest girl's father came to say goodbye, she did not even want to see him. The oldest girl had a small relationship with her parents, she saw them for two days every Christmas. Alina didn't cry when she said goodbye to her natural mother; however, the mother shed some tears. Alina and Irina said their goodbyes to everyone in the orphanage or-phanage and did not shed a tear. After they left the orphanage, Irina pointed to Garth in the cab and then she pointed to herself and said the word, "America." Garth said, "Yes, America!" and Irina started crying. She was not crying for sadness, she was crying for joy, he said. "Irina hung onto my neck and gave me kiss after kiss. The cab driver could hear what was going on and he started crying. He pulled the cab over for a half hour and cried. He just bawled and bawled. ' (In Saturday's issue, getting their new daughters out of communist com-munist Romania and survival under the strict regime's rules is a saga of tears and endurance.) f If - ; ) 1 ? X a 4 u f - "? if - -'' ,''' '1- i ft y , V '''' f 4 1 - -K - ,.: -' y.'ss-.- n... f f' 1 ' " ' tort I P ' y J . I A 1 '.,'''" ' ' J :. ., . 0A". . A : .':a a f ".'A.--.'; f -,f ' -- ' '. ' ' ' y " - v , . I S y ' W L -X ' I I a k r -.X'- c I v I A. , - V n r- ; v j t - M ' " f-y '"- ,yA ; r- I I ; - ; : J f '-f ,'. y '-, - , - V 'V ' I - ':''., ' , ''' ; I w ' J "" wynmymy 1 fa ft jjMrflr lfuii uafri aa-Ml i ir i iimmftg i A f I I i i . - V 1 , ; 11 - I rv - i "When we saw these two girls, we knew for some reason that they were meant for us. These two little girls came up to us and they sparkled; they were adorable. There were so many beautiful children, you want to bring all of them home" Clipper photos by Patrick Mitchell |