Goerwitz

Jariya had no problem taking a nap the first day we had her alone with us. She seemed to feel we were safe.

Jariya has always loved to eat. And she has never been a picky eater. She will eat vegetables, fruits, weird cheeses, spicy things—stuff most American kids wouldn't even touch. Even now (2008) at age seven I absolutely love feeding her.

We first met Jariya in a room of the Amari Boulevard Hotel. This picture (sorry, it's a bit blurry) was taken during that meeting. Jariya is shown here with one of the dedicated social workers who managed her case.

I bought cookies for our first meeting with Jariya. I thought she might not want to come to me, because at the time I had two feet of hair and a heavy beard, and I didn't look much like any Thai people she would have known.

This picture was actually taken before we came to Thailand to meet Jariya. She is reading a book we sent her full of pictures of us, our parents, our son, our house, cats, etc.

From the amount of fingerprints we found on the page when we arrived in Thailand, I suspect she's looking at the one containing pictures of our cats.