And Then There Were Five
March 13, 2010 9:00 AM

Juliana's birthday was March 3. She's seven years old—amazing! I told Tami it was my birthday, too, since I've been with Juliana seven years now, but actually Juliana was 3 weeks old when I first took care of her. I remember that night very well. The agency had tried to "warn" me. "Jeanne, this is not a pretty baby," I was told, "but I know you can find love anywhere."

Over the next few nights I looked and looked, trying to find some "cuteness" in the baby's face. She broke my heart, crying with gastric distress. She soon was prescribed medication which helped tremendously, but in the meantime she cried, and yes, a child with a trach can still cry (just without all the noise!). That's when I finally "saw" Juliana. Looking into her one good eye as her pain eased and she fell asleep, I "saw" her—dear sweet Juliana. And she remains a dear sweet little girl, despite all she's been through.

A lot has changed for Juliana this past year. She has three more sisters! It used to be Juliana and her big sister Kendra. Then there started to be talk of a sister far away in the Ukraine. The "wallpaper" on the computer screen showed a bashful little girl in a red dress with mild Treacher Collins facial features, which Juliana would look at and sign "my sister."

But as the complicated adoption process dragged on, an unexpected situation presented itself. Two little girls of a distant relative (ages 1 and 3) needed a home. The Wetmores accepted responsibility and obtained custody, still determined to bring home the child from the Ukraine. It was more complicated and difficult than they imagined, but they did it. Now there are five girls!—Kendra, Juliana, Danica, Keira, and Allie. You can go to FirstCoastNews.com, do a search for Juliana Wetmore, and watch the short news segments about Juliana and her family.

I haven't posted any recent pictures of Juliana because she is between procedures and the "work" on her face is uneven. Work is done on one side, and after that heals the other side is worked on. We who see her every day think she is adorable, but people do stare at her, not understanding how far she has come and that she is a "work in process." However, you can see Juliana in the news segments, and her personality shines through. As Kendra said once long ago, "She's just another kid."

—Jeanne ("Party")