Some sad news…..

…..on September 21st we got some terrible news about our dear agency director. She had been battling cancer and I knew her battle was continuing; however, like many, we thought she would fight through this latest challenge….but sadly she didn't.  I wrote this piece below and posted it on my Facebook and her Facebook page…..she is such a huge part of my family's story as she was for many others.  Her obituary can be found by following the link through her name below.  I also love the photo I've posted below. An image does speak volumes.

Dearest Dorinda Carosella Cavanaugh, it is so so very hard to accept this news. I am heartbroken. 

Every time I look into the faces and especially the smiles of my children (I have no photos of them smiling when they were at the orphanages) I see the village of people who worked hard to bring us together into my precious family. 

I see you especially -- you are/were the soul / the matriarch leading the way at TDH with your love, faith, hope, and especially your compassion -- your belief that all children deserved to grow up in a loving family of their own. 

I still remember our first email communication. I was inquiring about Vietnam adoption. You were in Vietnam and answered me within a few minutes of getting my message. Those messages back and forth were the beginning of our relationship that tied us to Vietnam and to each other. Then a few years later with your phone call where on a Friday night after work, as our phone calls missed each other, you pulled over in your car so you could call me on your cell phone and deliver the wonderful news that I was going to be the mother of a little boy, a son and I didn't have to wait a whole long weekend for your call back on Monday. Then when we met in person in Vietnam when I held Matteo in my arms we chatted in the Somerset lobby couch, as if we had known each other a lifetime. You were now family too (despite that we shared an Italian heritage). This past July you delivered the news to me by phone, again on a cell phone in a car, that article 17 had been issued (after some additional hurdles) by the Ministry of Children clearing the way for Malia's adoption. You helped with our travel plans and in the wee hours of the morning when our hotel problem was solved, the day before our departure, you sent a short message wishing us a wonderful trip!! Your personal attention was so appreciated in what at times felt like an inhumane paperwork mountain.

I know I have told you this recently but will say it again. Thank you and all of the TDH family for the work you have done to bring me and my children together. 

Your work, love and spirit will live on in my family and in all the families that your work, dedication and courage helped create. You have made a tremendous difference in lives and especially in recent years where international adoption has become more bureaucratic and challenging despite the fact that there are still so many children who are in need of help and loving families. 

Your focus was always on the children. You loved them with all your heart and worked tirelessly for them and for all of us despite your own recent personal health challenges with cancer. Your focus continued to be on them and trying to match as many children with families as you could. 

I love you and will never forget you. I will make sure that Matteo and Malia know you too.

You have left this world a better and richer place for all you gave and the love you shared. Your spirit will never die though we have lost an amazing woman. 

Condolences to your own wonderful family. I thank them too for sharing you with us. I pray they will find peace in knowing you are no longer in any pain but I know they will miss you terribly. 

Good bye Dorinda. 

Grazie dal cuore. Riposa in pace. 

Francesca, Matteo Bao e Malia Song Nhi.