One Amazing Year Ago

Scenes from February 17, 2006....the day our precious babies were placed in our arms. We were blessed to share this day with Michele and Todd Borski (from Wisconsin). When Ian and Ahylana became part of our families forever, our lives changed....for the better. Both kids are simply amazing.

It was rather hot and humid in Kolkata the day we met our precious son. Our driver was scheduled for 11:00am. The orphanage was about 30 minutes from our hotel. We were going to be early for our noon appointment, but with traffic in Kolkata you just never know...so we wanted to be sure. First time parents...can't be late. :) As we drove through the streets of Kolkata, we tried to soak in as much of the culture as we could. We have the entire drive from the hotel to the orphanage on video and when we look back at it...wow...it's still overwhelming. We pulled up to the orphanage and were quickly whisked inside (with our trash bags of orphanage donations). We were greeted warmly by the staff and escorted upstairs to Ms. Roy's office. We could hear the babies crying in the other room. My stomach fell to my feet. I would like to say that's when I started crying, but those of you who know me well know that I was crying the entire ride from the hotel. I did compose myself so I wouldn't be a crazy red faced woman when we met Ian. Ms. Roy went over all of our paperwork and then went over the paperwork with Michele and Todd. She talked to us about their food and what they were eating. Gave us their schedule and then asked the Ayah's to bring them in. They were supposed to bring Ian in first, but the first baby coming in had a cute little dress on...so oooops...we had to scramble to switch cameras and start taking pictures of the Borski Family. As I remember it, Todd couldn't move too fast because he was simply awestruck by seeing Ahlyana. It was a beautiful and tender moment. Shortly after Ahlyana was brought in, our moment arrived. This beautiful baby boy that we had prayed for and loved was finally coming through the door. I remember swallowing hard and reaching for my baby. Charlie was behind me as the Ayah gently transferred him to my arms. We couldn't talk. All we could do was hug and kiss this sweet boy. Then I handed him to Charlie. To watch Charlie with him at that moment made me fall in love with Charlie all over again. You could see the love for his son shining through.

I've been trying to think of just the right things to say in this post. It's not happening. Today is such a special day...it's GOTCHA DAY!!! The day we became a forever family. It's hard to express what I'm feeling today. The memories of a mere year ago keep coming back and I get so emotional. The day we finally looked at his smiling face, the tears we shed, the frustrations we felt and the agony of waiting disappeared. Those feelings have been replaced with joy, wonder and amazement.

We're going out to dinner this evening to our favorite Indian restaurant to celebrate. Then we're coming home for dessert. I'll post some pictures from today a little later.

We celebrate today....and thank God for the miracle of adoption.