|
8-8-8
|
 |
| Today, with her new toy |
|
|
 |
| Wedding Ring Bracelet |
|
|
|
This is a story of a little girl who became, according to the laws of this country, officially part of our family today on this day of new beginnings, auspiciously dated 8/8/8, considered by the Chinese, the luckiest day of the century.
The story began fourteen months ago today when Hope was born, three months prematurely. She weighed just over two pounds at birth. (When I held her for the first time, it felt as if I were holding only the blanket, she was so tiny and light.) Bending down to peer into the incubator, I saw a tiny set of dark eyes looking right back at me. At that moment I said in my heart, "you are coming home with us." And she did.
But let me back up to a few months before her birth. During those months, my daughter and her husband started and completed a course on becoming foster parents. They had desired to have a family together for a long time, had tried the medical route, and had decided to provide foster care with the hopes of maybe someday finding a child to adopt. They were warned, along with the rest of the class, not to set their hopes on an infant because babies hardly ever came up for adoption. As the class progressed, they found themselves changed by the information they learned. My son-in-law and daughter found themselves growing more compassionate and understanding of the foster care system, and the families involved in foster care.
Days after completing the course, background checks, case worker visits to their home, and mounds of paperwork, little Hope was born. A few days later, my daughter received a call asking if they would consider being foster parents for her with the possibility of adoption. Of course they said yes.
Then, there were two months in the hospital with little Hope. At first she was barely visible for all the tubes, covering her tiny body. The first picture above shows my son-in-law's wedding ring fit her wrist like a bracelet. But she was a fighter. She constantly pulled off her breathing apparatus. Her little body was always moving. Her eyes searched out the faces of her parents to be. My daughter and son in law spent as much time as they could with her in the hospital. And daily Hope grew stronger. Finally the day came when the doctors decided that she could go home, even though she was still on oxygen. What a happy day that was, a little scary too! She was very small.
But soon she had weaned herself off the oxygen tank altogether. Progress was made step by step, and we all rejoiced at each new victory, whether great or small. Hope steadily gained weight. She fit in perfectly with my daughter's family, including the dog. Right from the start Jasper was very protective of the baby and would move gently and quietly around her, even though he had been a rather clumsy and nervous dog previously.
There was the day she sat on her own, her first big smile, the first spoonful of oatmeal, the first time she pulled herself up on the coffee table. All the normal firsts, but so especially exciting for a little girl who started out so small. Because of her premature birth, we had three extra baby months with Hope. As my daughter said, "I guess we really do make a big deal out of every little milestone, huh? I guess because to me everything about her and how she came to us is such a miracle."
And now we come to today, August 8, 2008, adoption day. The private courtroom was exuberant with joy as the judge went through the legal motions and pronounced Hope a permanent part of our family. Then the judge allowed her to pick out a wooden toy that he personally carves for each adopted child which passes through his court. The picture on the right is of her today with the toy she received. A red letter day for our family for sure.
There have been trials and challenges these last fourteen months, all of which I will not share with you here because, after all is said and done, God gave us Hope.
|
|
