This is Me

It started in Chengdu, Sichuan in China . A baby girl living in an orphanage with no parents but only a foster mom to take care of her. Her name was: Hu Fei Yang, she didn't know it because she was just a baby but her life was about to change FOREVER. In America a married couple with a son adopted from China were on there way to get her to bring her back to America and give her a FOREVER Mom, Dad, and Home. This couple were so excited, to be fortunate to not only go to China but to go back and get a daughter.

June 20, 1999, Fathers Day.  Paul and Conna the married couple were in the Yinhe Dynasty Hotel, room 2111 at 9:00 pm they would be getting to see their daughter for the first time. Tears and love filled the room entirely, Babies crying, parents crying with joy.

July 1st, 1999, Home Sweet Home. Paul and Conna are welcomed back to America by friends and family and Big Brother Joshua. Now Paul and Conna did not keep the name of Hu Fei Yang as this baby girls name, but they gave her a name that they knew would work and that name was Sarah. They wanted to name their kids all from the Bible and so that is what they did because they knew without God none of these adoptions were possible.

Through the years they adopted two more kids,  Daniel and Rachel. They were a family of 6 with three guys and three girls living under one roof. Paul and Conna are Fortunate to have these kids, they are their world. These kids are fortunate to have parents that they can call Mom and Dad.

Through the years, lots happened, but life continued....but then...

Oct. 19, 2013, Tragedy Hits. Conna was taking 11 year old Daniel to his soccer game. During the game she started feeling sick and then she puked, she was talking to her friends and like the supportive Mom she was she cheered Daniel and his team on and then...she collapses to the ground, Daniels Coach calls 911 and she was taken to the hospital, The hospital couldn't figure out what was going on so she was air lifted to UCSF where they found out she had a brain aneurysm, Paul, her sister Cindy, and a family friend Carol drove down to meet her at UCSF when she arrived at the hospital, but where were the kids? Joshua, Daniel, and Rachel all with her parents and two cousins. Sarah was babysitting and didn't hear about her mom until her best friend Noah called and asked if everything was alright and then informed her on what he knew...she called her Dad. Her Dad and her aunt explained what was going on. After babysitting a family friend picked her up and she stayed with them, she was up all night crying, feeling sick, and praying for healing.

Oct. 20, 2013, This is Just A Dream. The next morning she gets a call from her cousin Melody saying she needed to get to the house as soon as she could, Sarah got in the car and got to the house, when she walked in everyone was sitting in the living room crying...and she thought to herself... "She's gone" but she didn't want to believe it until her Nana and Papa got up and said...Your Mom passed away earlier this morning and we just got the news...Sarah fell to the ground shocked, heart broken, the family grieved, prayed, and listened on the phone as they declared Conna gone...but then we got a little bit of joy...Paul signed off one of Conna's kidneys to her Mom, Carol who had been on a list for one. Knowing she would have a part of Conna in her was so touching and meant a lot.

Oct. 21, 2013, It Takes Time. The kids didn't go to school, instead they took the day to process everything. It still didn't seem real to any of them. Their Mom was 45 and in good health, why would God take her away so soon though, that is what they wanted to know but only God knows. On this day Daniel got his glasses, Rachel, and Joshua were with our two cousins Melody and Jenica and our Papa Gary. Sarah went into town and visited with some people, she had to get out of the house. She went to visit with the Forbes Family, Roth Family, Simoni Family, Wight Family and Stickels Family. She told them all she could and tried to stay strong, they were all devastated because they all  loved Conna so dearly.

Oct. 22, 2013, Life Still Goes On. The kids all went back to school. Daniel and Rachel went back to RCS and Joshua and Sarah went back to AR. Joshua and Sarah got picked up and as they rode to school they both looked out the window...tears were running down there faces just wishing it was all a dream. They got to school and got out went to the back of the car and a prayer was said and then they went there separate ways.

School was different, everything was, nothing was the same anymore and that would take time to get used to.

Nov. 10, 2013, Goodbye For Now, but Not Forever. The day of Conna's Memorial, Over 300 people came, Eureka Nazarene Church was filled, the church had never been so full in all its years. It was a day of smiles, tears, and so many more emotions but love was in the room through it all, and so was Conna. She touched so many lives, and yes people knew that but this Memorial really showed how many lives she had touched and showed everyone that just one person can make a huge difference in this world.

After the Memorial through the Month of November the Our Family had Conna's 46th birthday, Paul's 51st, and then Thanksgiving, all in the same week...doing new things for the first time is the hardest part, but it will get easier for this they knew. Before they knew it December was here which meant Christmas. It was Conna's favorite time of year, love showed the most in this month and the birth of Jesus happened. The New Year was coming but was the Rodrigues Family ready for it....

Sarah tells herself... it's a New Year, with lots of New Changes, but New Me... Not really, because I am the young lady that Mom wanted me to be... No I am the young lady that my Mom raised me to be.

Do you remember who Sarah is? Her birthday Oct. 15, 1998, lost her Mom 5 days after her birthday, the girl that got her FOREVER Mom, Dad, and Home...oh right well that's me. My name is Sarah Ann Hu Fei Yang Rodrigues. Through my life I was adopted, bullied for that and other things starting at 3rd grade and then to loose my FOREVER Mom at the age of 15, and then after my Mom passing my Nana Carol got her Kidney and then my Moms other organs were donated and after my Nana Carol and her surgery my Papa was in the hospital for many things and is still in the hospital. Through all of this it has made me stronger and it has tested my faith in God, everyday I'm tested, I can either stray from him or continue to stay on his path and let him lead me, Well you know....I choose to stay on his path and let him be my light. God gives us the things that we can handle in life and well, he believed we could handle all of this and we are and will continue to. I still haven't been able to process it all and I probably won't for a very long time. It will take lots of time, years probably, but the greatest comfort we have in the time of loss is knowing that death does not have the last word- Jesus does!