A Circle Completed

In May of 2007, Amy and I were in the beginnings of the adoption process. As with many families, the enormity of the process had us feeling a bit overwhelmed, uninformed, and unprepared. We felt as though we were swimming in storm surf with no view of land or scrap of flotsam. To help us find our way, we started this blog in hopes of making connections with other families who were going, and had gone, through the process to ease us down the road. Along the way, we connected with the Clevingers through our families’ blogs.

We both went through the entire process in almost lockstep. We completed our home studies around the same time, we completed our dossiers around the same time, we received our referrals around the same time, and we traveled to Ethiopia around the same time. Through all our up and downs, the waiting, and the anxiety, we developed a great email and blog relationship with Lindsey and Courtney; but, even though we live in the same area, we never had the chance to meet in person. We wanted to try to meet up in Addis, but we both had our crazy schedules and illnesses to deal with, so we had to delay meeting until we were back stateside.

We finally meet the Clevinger Three (soon Four) this past Friday night for dinner. It proved to be as though we sat around a table together many times before. To start, once our little ones saw each other, their eyes and faces lit up in a deep smile. As we sat, talked, delayed ordering, talked more, our little ones played and took each other’s crackers. After dinner, Ian and Sophia were able to get down and play with toys and a rogue straw. It was a treat for them to meet and I am thrilled to think of all the play-dates, birthdays and gotcha days, and maybe even a prom date too (hey, Ian did steal a little kiss at the end of the night).

As we look forward to raising our little girl, we know making great connections with other families who have also been blessed with children from Ethiopia will support her (and her family) as she grows. We are blessed to count Lindsey, Courtney, Ian, and M* as one family we know will share our joy in seeing our Sophia grow from a beautiful little girl into beautiful young lady.