(a typical Russian scene, the ladies are in line to buy milk from the yellow tank)I was thrilled and sat staring at my computer for quite awhile. I let the news sink in and felt overjoyed. For one, that this is where our children would come from and for two, that we were making a giant, tangible step on our road to bringing our children home. You see, just a few months earlier a woman from Tennessee who had adopted a 7-year old from Russia sent him back on an airplane solo. With the fallout this created, we were worried our plans would be put on hold, maybe even indefinitely. I remember that time, though, and even though it seemed like it could really create problems, I received reassurance repeatedly that all would be well.
Upon finding out our region we had more documents to prepare (seriously, it's hard to overstate the extreme volume of paperwork that is required in international adoptions). I felt like I just wanted a break, though. We had been told our wait for a sibling group from officially being registered in a region to receiving a referral was 12-14 months. I figured I had lots of time. Also, all the paperwork you prepare expires within months & this means you have to re-do it. I thought it best to wait and put off the expiration as long as possible. A few weeks went by, school started for mr. E and I figured that would give me some extra time to dedicate to this.
I received an email from Anna, our coordinator, and she asked how our paperwork was coming along. I wrote back and said I hadn't made a lot of progress (read: hadn't started) but asked how long it was taking for adoptive couples to receive referrals in this region. She said that Moscow region was often very quick to offer invitations to travel to meet the referral and hoped that sometime this fall we would hear something. That was a Monday (Sept. 21st).
On Tuesday (Sept. 22nd) I was at lunch with a friend. She asked me how things were going with the adoption & I explained the exciting news: it could be within a few months that we receive a referral. About 20 minutes later I received the following text from my husband:
Sept. 21, 2010 1:00 pm
Just got a call from Anna.
She said we've received
our invitation. Plan for
travel in 2nd half of
October.
(to be continued)
3 comments:
Seriously!!! You always leave me hanging!! :) I love getting to read about this miraculous adventure. It's wonderful!! Part 4???? It's like waiting for the next volume in a fabulous series!
I can't wait to hear what happens next!
I just got on your blog today and read part 1, part 2, and part 3 AND your marathon story. All of them are making me cry! I love you so much Mariah. All the heartaches and setbacks you have had the last little while are turning into such blessings. There definitely was a reason you pushed through the marathon and pushed through your feelings to file for an adoption. You are such an inspiration to me!
Post a Comment