Oh Happy Adoption Day
Today we celebrate Adoption Day for my resliliant baby girl. She arrived four years ago in a green chariot (mini van) with two fairy godmothers (social workers). She was small, wicked cute, and didn't talk a lot. Of course she didn't, the child had no idea what was happening in her world. There were two white plastic bags with shoes and toys that blinked and made noise. And a rubber maid bin with clothes and stuffed animals and most importantly, a kid. Not in the bin, she was in a car seat.
I remember so much of the first day my daughter arrived and the actual Adoption Day, a year and two days later. I was excited and scared out of my gourd all at the same time. Imagine what it was like for her.
I had cleaned for days and enrolled help to make this place shine like the top of the Chrysler Building. Everything was in place, her room was perfect. There were no weeds in the gardens. No dust bunnies under the dressers. We were ready for a four year old, you know because there weren't any weeds! I remember in the last moments of seeing that green chariot pull into the driveway, and saying to myself, "you're completely wrecked"...in the cleaned all day looking wrecked mode. Oh shit, I'm probably not the perfect Iooking Mom. I should have left the dust bunnies and spent a little more time looking decent for this little precious being coming to a strange new home for the very first time. What matters? A perfect looking Mom or a perfect house? Neither. There is no perfect and kids don't care about the clean room (although I know she loved her new bedroom). I will always wonder if she noticed my crappy t-shirt, no bra, and messed up hair...anyway, moving on.
Children don't need a certain looking Mom. They don't need a really wealthy Mom. They don't need a stay-at-home, tall or short Mom. They don't need any particular ethnicity, or a log cabin, or a mansion, a Ferrari, or Range Rover...okay the Range Rover would be good.
What kids need is a Mom who accepts them with open arms. Heart wide open and willing. They need a Mom who has their kid's back. The super hero Mom who will go to the ends of the Earth to find them and bring them home. A Mom who will give, hold on for this one, and "receive" love, unconditionally. You knew that "unconditionally" word was coming. That's what is needed, just the love that resides in all of us.
One of the first nights while putting her to bed, we laid face to face with our prayer hands under our cheeks. Just about 6 or so inches away from one another. I began to tell her she was safe now, and that I would never leave her, I would protect her and that I would never ever let anything happen to her. This grateful soul smiled and whispered, "Thank you Annie" in the most sincere voice a four year old can muster.
Adoption Day came a year (and two days) after she arrived. It was BIG! Definitely one of the top 10 BEST DAYS of my LIFE, that's for sure. I mean who get's to adopt their 4th child, this time as a single parent! It was like, "It's you and me kid. 4EVA." It's liberating. I was and still am so proud of us. My kids and I. They too, made room in their hearts for this little walking, talking smoocha coocha baby love and unconditionally give and receive love.
We went to a Court House far away! We invited close friends who were very supportive and helped me tremendously during that first year. The fairy God Mother's came to this legal ceremony day called Adoption Day too. The judge was wonderful. It was hard to breathe when he finally said, it's official! There were no dry eyes to be found. What a journey. What a moment in time. She picked me above all the other Mamas, no bra and all. She must have known my heart had been praying for her arrival. (I always wanted a fourth child and received the signs, that's an entirely new blog)
We dried our tears, took photos, and we went to the coop and had some snacks and shared some stories with our friends and family....everyone went on their way and the kids and I returned home, briefly.
Together we packed up our Range Rover/Honda mini van and headed to the one place that every heart can find peace after an eventful and heart pounding day, the beach (the big wave beach).
My four children. My oldest came through this body and the other three via another woman's body. Souls find each other, the ones that are meant to be together.
Adoption Day 2012
Just us and the deep blue sea to sit and ponder the past, the present & what is to come.
