I know for those of you who follow my blog, including my friends, are aware that my husband and I have been waiting for years to have a child. Time was ticking on having our own natural child, and then we became advocates for foster care, resulting from a project that my husband and others in the community worked on in developing SAFFT (Supporting Adoptive and Foster Families Together). The brainchild of Ashley Anderson, (we love you Ashley!) who has fought tirelessly for the rights of children in foster care. Through our work in helping SAFFT (www.safft.org), and some soul searching we decided that we wanted to adopt a child from the foster care system, rather than adopt through a private agency. We had met so many children in foster care that just plain melted our hearts, who were all deserving of so much love and a stable home. So the journey began…about 3 years ago and countless days of waiting knowing that out there our child was waiting for us too. At times I thought my heart would break from just watching the time pass…Then last year Ashley suggested that we transfer directly to DCFS, so we did, and I will be forever thankful to them because today our dream will be realized, and we will be proud “Foster to Adopt” parents to a 6 year old girl that we have long waited for. I met her at a Christmas party last year sponsored for foster children, and just knew. She was in a foster home, and her future uncertain because there was always the chance that she would be placed back with her family. Then we were asked to watch her for “respite care” which ended up to be a few weekends and a week when her foster mom went on vacation, and the day she asked if she could live with us forever just about broke my heart into pieces, because we didn’t know if she would be placed with us or another family. So I prayed, my friends prayed and their friends prayed. Then awhile back we got the news, we were chosen as her family. Best day of my life…because I could never promise her what we were all hoping, that she would come and live with us. I remember one of the family court judges telling me last year that you don’t need a child, but the child. He was right, and I truly believe that she was meant to be a part of our family, and all the days of waiting, hoping and the tears are worth it because today it will be a day of new beginnings for all of us. I picked up alot of her things yesterday, the sum of her life so far, a few boxes of clothing and a small box of toys. I pick her up this afternoon, and bring her to her new home, here with us. To a life full of love, laughter and stability. Where she will have a room to call her own, designed by my friends at Milk and Honey Home (www.milkandhoneyhome) who I enlisted to finish the project because I wanted it to have the warmth and love that goes into everything they do. She’ll have tons of dresses, all in shades of pink (her favorite colours), and sparkly shoes because she loves glitter, and new toys, and Dr. Seuss books, including her favourite “Oh, the Places We’ll Go”…I left the tags on everything because I want her to know that that I bought them just for her, because children in foster care usually don’t have much that they can call their own. But, most importantly she’ll come to house full of love, because there won’t be a day that goes by that she won’t know that she is special and so loved, and that all this time we waited just for her. It’s still going to be a process before we can formally adopt her, and I can’t share her name or show you her face to protect her identity. But, I can share this photo of her at our house one weekend, painting her nails…My heart is so full today and I can’t wait until 3:30 PM when I get to pick her up and bring her back where she belongs…with our family. So meet our new daughter…
