From Gentle Hands to loving hands…...

I had the absolute pleasure of meeting and getting to know Ronnie's forever family……

It was love at first sight … for Ronnie and for his parents, and well, for me, actually :) … I could not have hoped for more beautiful parents!

Side note: when a child is matched with a family, usually a few months before they arrive, Charity prints their pictures and places them above their bed …… and each day when they wake and each night before they fall asleep(and the time in between), the caregivers show them who their forever family is.

My point being….. he recognised them, he knew them… before he even met them. So amazing!

Ronnie and I arrived at Gentle Hands on the very same day… he was my first 'patient' - needing a cleft lip and palate repair … and he captured my heart from the very beginning.

I have watched him grow from a small, malnourished baby with an adorable personality … into a little man with an adorable personality!

It was hard to watch him being carried away from Gentle Hands … and gone forever… but the joy I felt from the wonderful life he had just been given way exceeded my loss…

… And I was blessed to catch a second glimpse of this … as his parents invited Judileth (his caregiver) and I to spend the day with them before flying back to their homeland. Memories I will treasure forever. THANK YOU Petteri and Leena!

Goodbye my sweet Ronnie… know you were always and will always be loved by everyone here at Gentle Hands. 

You are truly a special boy! 

xx