THE SONG “GETTING TO KNOW YOU” HAS VERY SPECIAL MEMORIES FOR ME!

THE SONG “GETTING TO KNOW YOU” HAS VERY

SPECIAL MEMORIES FOR ME!

Nancy B. Detweiler

Nancy & Julia – August 1970 – Honduras

In 1970 I flew to Honduras alone to become a mother!

Julia and my friends, who were missionaries to Honduras, were waiting at the airport.  I thought Julia (age 10) was the most beautiful little girl I had ever seen.  Julia and I were to spend three weeks together with our friends, during which we toured Honduras so Julia could remember her native land and we could get to know each other before flying to the United States.  If Julia was happy in the states, I would adopt her as a single Mom.

That first morning in Honduras, I woke up to see her still asleep in the twin bed across the room.  The magnitude of what I was doing hit me and I had to run to the bathroom and vomit.  That was it.  From then on, I knew I had flown to Honduras to bring home a little girl and I was overjoyed!

During the weeks in Honduras, I liked to sing “Getting To Know You” to Julia as I combed her hair and she dressed in the new clothes I had sewed for her with such great anticipation.  This little girl had hovered in my mind for years … I simply knew intuitively that a child with black hair was waiting for me somewhere and that somehow I would find her.

On a memorable day in August, 1970—the exact day of which I have never been able to remember—Julia said goodbye to her extended family (her mother had returned to spirit when Julia was age six), our dear friends, and her native country.  This precious child placed her little hand in mine and bravely boarded the plane to the United States and her new home.  The child who had been a part of my conscious awareness for years was now sitting beside me!

Two years later, when the adoption social worker asked Julia what she missed most about Honduras, she answered, “My grandmother’s cooking.”

We made front page Home Section in the Winston-Salem Journal when I adopted her as a single Mom—unheard of in the early 1970s!  And as we grew together, I had plenty of time to sing, “Getting To Know You!”

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlzjpuDvFxk&feature=share