Rain Delay

As often is the case in the adoption process, we are in another stage of waiting. Only this time we are waiting on the rainy season, a season in Addis Ababa (the capital city of Ethiopia) during which the roads become so muddy and impassable that the government closes it's offices for six weeks. Can you imagine? Our next step is to travel to Ethiopia for our court appointment. Since the closures went into effect August 6 and they will not re-open until September 27, we will simply wait until the sun starts shining again and we receive notice of our court date.

Yesterday, we had a very sunny moment in our wait. We received an e-mail and pictures from the Rogers family of Wyoming who delivered our care package. I am so very grateful to this family. Andrea Rogers was thoughtful enough to describe some of the details from the time they spent with our little boy. She described him as quiet and shy, but with a sweet smile and very excited to be getting a package. She explained how he looked at the pictures we sent in a little album over and over and really studied each one. She commented on which pictures he enjoyed the most and how the picture of our dog, Gracie, made him laugh. She explained how he lined up the little rubber frogs on the couch and counted them, and shared his gummy bears with a friend. They helped him put his St. Louis Cardinal's t-shirt on and said that he looked proud. In addition, they took pictures of him enjoying his little gifts, which I sadly cannot share until after we pass court.

When all you have is a referral photo and a brief medical history, these small details are precious. I look forward to being able to pass this favor on to other waiting families when we are finally ready to travel.

It was 10:30 p.m. when we received the e-mail from Andrea and we were already in bed. When I heard the alert on my phone that I was receiving an incoming message, I just had to check it (because I am an addict). I read the message to Dave and we both smiled and let out a happy sigh. Then I asked, "Do you want me to read it again?" to which he responded, "Yeah, I do." I lay in bed that night thinking how funny it felt to be falling asleep with such a big smile on my face.