Caty’s Refuge
Tyrone Saves The Day
Chapter 6
Cyndi became a house mother, much to Caty’s delight in being with her every moment possible. One morning, I heard Caty sobbing, but guessed what had happened. Cyndi left for the States that morning. Everyone in the office tried to console her and explained Cyndi would come back in three weeks, but Caty shook her head and wailed, “No, no.”
With sudden inspiration, I grabbed Cyndi’s house keys in one hand and Caty in the other and headed for Cyndi’s house.
Tyrone, Cyndi’s black Lab, greeted us with his tail flipping back and forth and nose pressed against his cage.
I said, “See, Tyrone is here waiting for Cyndi to come back.” So I took her to the closet, “Her clothes are here because she went to visit with her family and will return to Monjas in a few weeks.”
Caty knelt beside the kennel and murmured, “Tyrone, Tyrone,” as she patted his head. Then, light appeared in her eyes, as she realized her dear aunt would return.
On the walk back to the office, Caty said, “Tia Cyndi with mom.”
“Yes, Caty, she is visiting her mom and dad and will return.”
“Tomorrow?”
“No it will be in three weeks, but she will return to us. Tomorrow we will check on Tyrone and make sure he is okay.” Caty’s body relaxed as she gave in to waiting for Cyndi. It seemed that if Tyrone waited, she could too.
After completing the first casita, we prepared the girls to move onto the property. Joanne and I hired a Guatemalan couple from Monjas to be the house parents. This followed our plan for each home to have a Guatemalan mom and dad. The children needed to learn how to function as a family since they did not come from healthy environments. Until now, Tia Cyndi filled that spot, but changes came with the move.
Caty struggled when things were outside the box, and I tried to prepare for adverse reactions. Unfortunately, Tyrone wouldn’t be able to solve all the problems.
We planned a welcome party for the couple in the new home. Several girls expressed words of greeting and encouragement. After we had eaten some cake, Caty bellowed like a wounded cow stuck in the mud. She sat away from everyone else with tears flowing. Did she get bit by a scorpion? What could be the problem?
With Caty’s face against her chest, Cyndi spoke words of consolation. After that, she calmed down but still exhibited a protruding lip and wet puppy dog eyes.
“Why did she get so upset when she loves parties and eating cake?” I said.
We decided that Caty thought Cyndi would be leaving the orphanage because we had going-away parties for people departing the Project.
Later, Cyndi took Caty aside and said, “I will see you every day at Shadow, but I won’t be sleeping and eating here. However, we will have lots of time together,” Cyndi said.
I learned another important lesson from this girl. She needed to have consistent routines or an explanation when they varied.
A year passed, and we received a call from the court saying that a man claiming to be Najera’s father had called. The woman who had cared for Najera after the death of her mother contacted Julio*, asking for permission to adopt her. Julio had been on a hunt for Najera ever since he had heard that his ex-wife had been killed. He had come up short in finding any information about Najera’s location until now. The lady at the court told him how to contact us, and Julio made the call to see his daughter. We explained to him the legal procedures he needed to take through the court system, including getting permission from the judge.
confirm his biological claims. It turned out that Julio had lived and worked in the same area as Shadow of His Wings Orphanage for the last four years. We passed by his workplace frequently and didn’t know that the target of Najera’s prayers labored in a shop yards away.
The month before this, the girls had won first place doing a gymnastic rendition of the Flintstones at the Department (State) level competition in Jalapa. From there, they went to Guatemala City for the National competition and took first place. The thrill of this honor for these children could not be summed up in a few words. To go from a condition of being abused to having hundreds of fans cheering you on resonated in all of our hearts.