Lost Parents, Will the lost parents of a six year old child named
Renée VanPuten please come to the security office at the main gate.

The message was repeated every ten minuets for the next hour, if it
had been in Dutch or German, or if they had only pronounced the name
correctly (the vowels sound different), perhaps there would have been a
chance. But no, after that hour it was off to The Virginia Department
of Social Services.

I can look back on it now, I grew up quite a bit in the last four
years. Before I forget much more, I will write here my life, before,
then, now, and to come.

I am Randi Kwiakowski, the adopted daughter of Sandi Patterson
Kwiakowski and Lawrence Mark Kwiakowski. Yes adopted. We are a family
now, and most of the times, when I think of mom and dad I no longer
think of my birth family, they would not recognize me now.

I was born in the Netherlands, the only son but youngest child of a navy petty officer.
I remember how excited I was, we were going to America to meet up with
my father, and than I would ride back to the Netherlands on his ship
with the other fathers and their sons.
(Here in the US they call it a tiger cruise, but as a girl I can’t go.)

We flew in on a huge jet on Air France, I know not what kind, it was
my first plane flight and at six of age, it seemed as if everyone from
my gymnasium would fit aboard and still leave room for more.

In Norfolk we stayed in the Navy Lodge on the US Navy base at Little
Creek Virginia, Oh the ships you could see. Dad had promised me that we
would tour some of them and also a US Navy aircraft carrier and
submarine. It never happened.

Our first week in America, of course we went sight seeing. First
Bush Gardens, I still remember riding the log ride with my dad, I sat
on his lap and he hugged me tight as we plunged into the pools of
water, the bow wave shooting over and on us. I screamed with glee .. do
it again, I want to do it again .. , there was a wild mouse ride, that
I thought I would like but I left my lunch in the air on one turn, more
on the next turn, than the worst pain was when I tried to leave more on
the last turn but no more came up.

We went to the capital and saw the Lincoln Memorial, Washington
Monument, the Capital itself and the Pentagon. We also went to Mount
Vernon. I thought it was built of stone, but I remember that the ranger
told our tour group that the outside was wood, carved and painted to
look like stone, neat.

The next day we rented a car and dad drove us up to the mountains,
there was a highway along the ridge tops, the view was beautiful, It
took us two days to drive back and dad looked at every town and tourist
attraction he could. Mom was yelling at him that none of us wanted to
see this stuff, but I did, I just couldn’t tell her. If she knew
English maybe she would have enjoyed the trip, as it was only we could
speak with her, Dad knew English, some.

My mom yelled a lot. She would talk and talk. If some one started to
say something, she would yell, I’m talking, wait your turn, but she
never stopped. My dad told me that was why he went to sea, so he could
hear himself.

Friday we attended the start of the Azalea Festival, It started in a
huge flower garden, so large that it even had a zoo in it. My mother
had taken my sisters and I to see the crowning of the festival queen,
this year the queen was from Finland and the princesses were from the
other NATO nations, I tried to see what countries they came from but
found none from home. Puzzled I dodged around looking for a princess
from the Netherlands, I asked many important looking people where was
the princess

I became lost. I couldn’t see my mother nor sisters, I started
screaming for them and bawling. A grandmotherly looking women came to
me. She started asking me what was wrong, I had a hard time
understanding her and her me, but she had the gift of languages and
finally found that I understood some German. As we talked I tried to
explain how I lost my mother, how I was looking for the Dutch princess.
She explained to me that the princess from the Netherlands had become
ill just the hour before, and there was no princess from the
Netherlands, I was shocked, in my pride I could not imagine such a
thing, we were a great sea going nation, we should have princess in
this mostly naval festival!

She asked if I could, would I want to be a princess, and represent my home. Of Course I would, at six little did I know.

She smiled at me and said so mote it be, the air went still, and my
eyesight went crazy, it seemed as the wind had colors and nature sang.
I passed out.

When I came to my senses, I was sitting on a chair on the stage,
around me and with me were the princess of the festival, and the queen
and her court were being presented, as the girls arose, I was prodded
till I jumped up. To my surprise I was now in a white dress, with a bow
in my hair, long hair, really long hair, I don’t have hair to my waist
but I did now. Not knowing what to do I just did what everyone around
me did,

After, some speeches, We watched a military drill team than broke for snacks.

Again I went to look for my mother and sisters. Not finding them and
not knowing where else to go I started to look at the zoo. Much like
those at home, I soon was looking for animals I had not seen before. As
the sky got dark, people started to leave, I was hungry.

Finding help was not hard, a guard spoke German, and between his German and my English I explained that my mommy was lost.

It was then that my new life started.