Today at DFW airport, Russian orphans from the Angels from Abroad program will step off a plane into a whole new world. Three of the children will live with LH’s Reggie and Becky Boles for the next two weeks.
Angels from Abroad is an outreach of Buckner International Adoption and aims to bring children living in a Russian orphanage to Texas. The older kids, aged 6 to 13, are considered harder to place, and the goal is to promote an understanding of international adoption and to introduce the joys of accepting older children into your home.
Reggie and Becky will host 3 boys – two ten-year-olds and a boy aged 12. “It’s gonna be one crazy time,” said Becky. “I really don’t know why I am cleaning floors or potties.” (As you can tell, Becky has some experience with boys. She has two sons of her own, McGuire and Mitchem, along with a darling daughter, Margot.)
While in Dallas, the “Angels” will visit the Mesquite Rodeo and other “typically Texas” spots. They’ll meet with doctors, dentists and optometrists for checkups and treatments – in the past, two children even had eye surgeries which corrected their vision and dramatically improved their classroom performance. They’ll also learn to swim, which will be helpful as they grapple with the Texas heat. (Drownings are common in Russia, and more than 70 folks in Moscow died in a single day this month, wading into water in an attempt to cool off.) The host families also take the children shopping for clothing and shoes.
Becky says she particularly enjoys watching the children experience Texas cuisine. “The food for them is a bounty, and they can never get enough fruit. Watermelon is their favorite.”
Becky, who has hosted Angels before, hopes LH will support the visitors as they always do, greeting and welcoming the children as they see them around town. “Lots of LH people have helped with the program in the past,” she says. “Lake Highlands is the perfect place to show love to children and promote older-child adoption.”
