As I walked into the room, I locked eyes with a beautiful little girl whose black hair, dark eyes, and infectious laugh immediately got my attention. I picked her up into my arms where she must have felt comfortable because she wouldn’t let me put her down. Although shy at first, she began running her tiny fingers through the back of my hair and then through her own. I think she wondered why her hair was so much softer than mine. Eventually, she told me her name and every time I would say it, she would playfully repeat it back to me so I would say it again and again. She would laugh. I would laugh. We enjoyed this moment together even though we had just met.

She was an orphan.

I may have needed that moment more than she did, but those few minutes with her at the orphanage broke my heart all over again for little children across the globe who need a loving family. As I knelt down to allow this little girl to stand on her own two feet, she protested by wrapping her legs tightly around me. Tears began filling my eyes. I didn’t wipe them away. I didn’t want to let her go…

…but I did. I’ll never be the same.