Ishana

Ishana was here for a month this summer!! It had been two years since we had seen her as her mother had not been willing to send her.

Finally she came this summer and with a new agreement in place, we are hoping to see her twice a year now.

You could not have seen a happier daddy than Adhipen to be reunited with his little girl again!

Ishana was extremely excited about Uma. In every conversation about family, she brought in Uma's name and presence. She is going to make a wonderful big sister!

The highlights of Ishana's trip were, of course, her trip to San Jose to be with her grandparents and Malar Ate's family, Disneyland and lots and lots of movies! I think I saw every child's movie that was out this summer. Both Ishana and my favorite was Pixar's new movie "Ratatouille." We both love rats and this was a movie about rats, so what can you expect?

Ishana is very physical and likes to play in the park. She especially loves a park with good monkey bars! If the monkey bars stink, the park stinks. So there you have it! She is extremely coordinated and at the same time, graceful. She learned to ice skate, which she absolutely loved! If it were up to Ishana, she would have been on the ice the entire trip! She had private lessons and her teacher told me that the was quite advanced in her skills. She bought her own pair of ice skates with the money her father had given her for her first communion, which she had this year.

Ishana also started her own business. Yes, that's right, she is a true entrepreneur, like her dad. Her aunt, Malar, taught her how to make beaded necklaces and earrings and Ishana saw that these could be made fairly quickly and easily, and she has a great eye. Seeing her interest, Malar bought her a beading kit of her own, and after that Ishana sat down and started making jewelry and she was able to sell it. One time she came to my office and while I was working, she got so many orders from my co-workers that it took her the whole day to make the jewelry! Adhipen had business cards made (which Ishana designed on the computer), and the business was born: Jewelry by Ishana.

Now, Ishana and I had taken a crochet class together but the crochet fell a bit by the wayside with the instant gratification of jewelry making, but Ishana has now found her craft and her business niche! I, on the other hand, am loving the crochet and am working on an afghan for Ishana.

Ishana has a love/hate relationship with sharks. She is absolutely terrified of them, to the point that she does not even feel completely comfortable in a swimming pool let alone the ocean. In a pool she has to keep reminding herself that sharks cannot get in there, or she just can't even swim with ease. At the same time, she has studied them and knows quite a bit about them. On e-bay, we bought some sharks teeth, a great white tooth necklace, and an ancient shark tooth, from a Megladon, which literally fit her entire hand. This tooth was her pride and joy and she liked to carry it everywhere she went and show it to people and explain to them about the Megladon. She edcuated quite a few people, including Adhipen and me, on this ancient being.

We had one sad thing happen which was that Ishana's (and our) pet rat Suzy died. We had bought Suzy as a little baby rat when Ishana was here two years ago. At that time, Ishana carried Suzy with her everywhere and the two of them were as bonded as a girl and her dog would be. About a year ago, Suzy began to develop tumors (which the vet says is the most common cause of death in rats) and they kept growing and growing. They were fairly large by the time Ishana came this summer. One night, as Ishana put Suzy back in the cage, the rat ran up to her and stuck her nose out. Ishana came to her and kissed her and said, "Goodbye." I got this eery feeling that Suzy would die that night, and she did. It was really as if she had waited for Ishana to come back so they could have some together time, before she did. Ishana and I buried her in our garden. It was the first pet that Ishana has lost. She was glad, however, that she got to be with Suzy more time before she passed. I also was very attached to Suzy and I was also so very glad that she had waited for Ishana.

Ishana is a naturally spiritual, extremely intelligent beautiful and deep soul. I feel like I have known and loved her all of my life. Our summer was so very blessed that she was here with us. It made the wait for Uma so much more bearable.

Next summer, we are all praying, Uma will be here to know her wonderful big sister!