Today is a special day. It is the birth day of our flute playing fifteen year old daughter. She is a gifted writer and tells about her own birthday joy in her blog at crystalsmiracles.blogspot.ca. From our perspective, we are rejoicing because we have now had her in our hearts and lives for seven whole years. She has brought great joy to our family. In her heart she will always be an only child, but she is also our middle child, and as she loves to tell people, the oldest of the youngest four children. She was our first child by adoption and is truly a miracle child, like each one of our children. We will never forget the long process of adoption, starting with a quiet voice within encouraging us to "step out of the boat" and my tentative call to 1-877-ADOPT-07 on my 50th birthday. My husband was 64. We really had no idea whether we would be able to adopt, but we felt we at least wanted to be available if we would be a fit for a waiting child.
A year later, our daughter was proposed to us. My husband had not wanted to go to the matching event because he did not like the idea of choosing a child by appearance. He felt we had shared so much of ourselves with our social worker and we would let her and God find a match if it was meant to be. I must say, I would have liked to have gone to the Adoption Resource Event as I think it is a great opportunity to learn more and also to get known by other workers, but nevertheless, our worker went to the matching event alone. When she saw the video of our daughter something stirred in her heart and she immediately saw that child as ours. Our daughter was her first match as an adoption social worker. Through many ups and downs and changes along the way, that little girl in the video became our daughter. My husband clearly told me before our proposal meeting not to get carried away. We were to listen to the social worker, read the file, and think and pray about the proposal for a few weeks. I will never forget him sitting at the end of the table. After hearing about our daughter, he placed his hand on the enormous file, looked straight at the worker and exclaimed, "This is my girl." She certainly is. It did take time for her to bond. For almost a year she would not stay alone in the same room with my husband. He was patient and gentle and let her be. He did fill his pockets with candy and treats regularly. He still does. Finally she too could say, "This is my Dad!"
You ARE our daughter, our dear one. May you have a wonderful birthday and a special year ahead. We love you. You are a sparkling diamond of Colour, Radiance, Youth and Spunk. You bring us great joy.
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