- Share This Post
- submit
- 1
-
Sparkle (0)
As I write this, my brother and his wife are on the other side of the world, meeting their new baby daughter in Ethiopia. She's 11 months old, and they'll be bringing her home in a few days. Those of us back at home have been a bundle of nerves as we've waited for news of how they're doing, and thanks to the miracles of modern technology, we've worked out a system quite nicely. My brother and his wife have a private blog (on Blogger, though they've not been able to access it from Ethiopia). We have had somewhat reliable e-mail contact with them, and between the e-mails and some (very expensive!) text messages, I've been able to update their blog using the log-in information my brother shared with me before they left.
Because they, too, are eager for word from home, I've been cutting and pasting all their supportive blog comments into e-mails and sending them back, so they can read all the prayers and good wishes. My sister-in-law's mother, who is keeping their older children, e-mails them daily reports of what the kids have been up to.
Adoption is extraordinarily emotional experience, of course, and for families adopting in a different culture, blogs can provide an important dose of emotional support from family members, friends, and even strangers. With my own thoughts on my brother and sister-in-law, I've spent some time this week looking through the blogs of families adopting internationally, and chronicling their travels for readers back at home.
Two Baby Bos shared an especially touching video of their "gotcha day" on this post, and she shared it as an encouragement to other adoptive families:
There are two reasons I finally decided to share this. Not only would I like other families adopting toddlers to know there's light, big light, at the end of the tunnel, but I'd also like to acknowledge those who spent time with Jaden while she was at SLC, when she first came home and who continue to be an integral part of her life. Each of them had a hand in getting us where we are today, so thank you.
Snippets and Sagas reminisced about their trip to China to get their daughter, complete with photos of the first time they met. They shared about their moving emotions at their meeting:
She was so small, so baby like. And as I looked over at my chicken-scratchings on paper, I couldn't make sense of how "pile of paperwork" related to "she is mine."
It's a wild ride, this thing called "adoption." And out of aaaaaalll the parents that could have been chosen to raise this girl, we were matched up as The Ones.
Carole of The Wardrobe and the White Tree is in Ethiopa right now, meeting her son Abel and bringing him home. She has been unable to access her blog, but she's managed to Twitter some of her remarkable journey (you can follow her here). Her tweets have been heartfelt and profound, including:
I just gave our housekeeper two jumbo packs of pads. She cried, i cried n she couldnt stop saying thank u. I am heart broken.
Went to visit Abel's orphanage, he gave them his ball but was not sad to leave at all. We all cried though meeting the ladies n kids waiting
I am so thankful that we've been able to vicariously enjoy my brother and sister-in-law's journey via blog, text and e-mail, but I'm even more thankful the traveling part of their journey is almost over. We'll meet them--and my precious new niece--at the airport on Sunday. Our family can hardly wait.
Shannon Lowe is a BlogHer contributing editor (Mommy/Family). She also blogs at Rocks In My Dryer and The Parenting Post.
