Friday, August 17, 2007
What would I do without...
Our agency is holding the group "travel meeting" on Saturday morning. Can't believe we're at this stage. It's been a hectic week, the phone has been going like crazy (i've got phone burns on my ear--and I hate telephones), & I've been running around making travel arrangements, money arrangements, getting prescription meds, I even did the immigration quebec visit and still trying to clear work stuff off my plate! My brain is in the meantime on overdrive and feels like it keeps doing system checks for all lost files (i.e. my fear that I will forget something important) and all possible viruses & system glitches(i.e., anything that may go wrong--predicting problem situations and preparing solutions). Sometimes it freezes once it detects a problem. SO thank goodness for people like Susan who has BTDT, Wanda, Sylvia, Dawn, Francine, Nicki, Donna who have offered tremendous support and advice (absolutely love you all) and Karen and her yahoo list of adoptive moms who have a wealth of experience that they are always willing to share. So grateful for good friends like Barb & Jorg who have been looking out for us newbie parents and have supplied us with so much stuff (and who have promised to inspect our installation of the car seat---because the manual is just beyond me---yes they really did give me a doctorate but NOT in CAR SEATS!!!). So grateful also for our families that have been super supportive. We have been so touched by the thoughtfullness expressed in every gesture of support, in every gift, in every piece of advice. How lucky we are for this support network who is so enthusiastically rooting for us to get Penelope home. It is so moving at these times in one's life to feel so much love. Yes, indeed, I have woken up this morning very early and overflowing with gratitude and reverence for life. The miracle of life is...not conception and birth, but growth...the life instinct to get from a place of grief and pain-- to this joy...this path is the miracle of our life... two grown people who merged paths and who kept walking together over the rough & rocky patches to come to discover up ahead that a little path from far far away, of a little Yunping born just last year, flows into their own...this crossing was always there...they never knew it and may have never known it had they not kept walking...this is the miracle of life.
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4 comments:
Very eloquently said.
Keep smilin!
Just think! You're almost there! I have a tip for you that worked really well for us...take it or leave it. I bought an accordian file folder to put all of our papers in, and I labeled all of the dividers exactly as the documents were labeled. That way, regardless of who was doing paperwork, we could find things fast. I had been in charge of all of the paperwork stuff, but in China, Tom filled out all of the paperwork while I had Chloe in the hotel room. He was able to find things fast. Later on, I took a turn doing paperwork while Tom was with Chloe, and it worked really well for me, too. I didn't have to shuffle through papers to find things like other people had to. My documents were all in their correct slot and well-labeled. (I love to be organized!)
Fantastic advice chloesmama! We ended up doing the same thing. I pulled all the paperwork together at home and DH looked after everything once we were in China. We were slightly overwhelmed at times (child screaming while at the offical adoption meeting) and being able to get our hands on papers instantly was well... priceless. Also put money in labelled envelopes so we could find it quickly too and didn't have to fumble around when the money needed to be given over to the notary, orphanage, etc.
If immigration is done, you are really on the home stretch. Remember to take some time to enjoy these last days of innocent couplehood. Eat chocolate out in plain sight before supper; enjoy eating without getting up from the table and where you can concentrate your whole attention on what you are eating/doing/watching/thinking about/talking about! The trade off is definately worth it (paying attention to the baby's needs over your own), but try to savor it a little. Go the bathroom by yourself - with no interruptions. Take a shower without wondering if it will wake the baby; Go out without packing a diaper bag and finally, sleep without having one ear out for the baby (crying, sighing, turning over, breathing and generally waking up before she should).
The most amazing thing of all to me is that you will come back from China a 'Mother' and a 'Father' but - magically over the next few months as you become a 'Mama' and a 'Papa' you will forget what it was like to live the life you live now.
Dawn
Ok, feeling reassured that I may get this gig right...I bought an accordion file folder a couple of months ago. I have a label machine. I'm ready to go...
Mary
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