Court Date!

Where you wondering where I was this week? On Monday, the day of our court date, I had to fly to Chicago to do a training for Chicago Public Schools. Since our agency is on Pacific time, I knew I wouldn't hear the results of our court date until early afternoon at the latest.

The morning was bearable. I worked; I packed; I left half of my wardrobe at home,(Yes, my head wasn't completely there.)and then I drove to the airport around noon...and anxiety set in. Sitting in the car for an hour with nothing to do but think about what transpired half a world away was excruciating. To keep myself from calling the agency, (I didn't want to interrupt the possible phone call they would be having with the lawyer in Ethiopia.) I called all of the ladies who worked for me to "check in" before my flight. Then, I called my sister. Having 3 telephone conversations and leaving 3 voice mails left me with 5 minutes to get to the airport. The time was a little after 1:00 and I had to physically move the phone from my reach in order for me not to call the agency. (I made a pact with myself that I wouldn't call until 2:00.)

Check-in and security moved relatively quickly at the airport (the one instance when I was trying to prolong my time). I was thankful that I had a long train ride to the D terminal before I had to sit...and wait...and think....My phone rang. I jumped to answer; it was Tim. "Did you hear anything?" I asked. (I had left the agency Tim's number to call too.) "No, did you?" he replied. "No," I responded. That was the gist and the extent of our phone call.

I was thankful when one of my colleagues that I left a message for called. We caught up on work related events for awhile...and then my cell phone rang again. Time stopped; it was Dove!

"Hello," I answered. "How did it go?"

"Do you feel like a parent?" Kari, our assistant adoption director asked. "Do you feel like a parent?"

"Yes, I always feel like a parent," I responded. (I have been a parent for almost 11 years now, but I don't think she remembered that.)

"Do you feel like a parent?" she repeated.

"YES," I practically screamed into the receiver.

"Well, you are officially a new parent today!" she answered.

I honestly can't remember the exact words I said back - probably "Thank goodness!" or "I'm so excited!" I do remember telling her that I was so thankful that everything went well. However, I was thankful for a lot more than that. I was thankful to Kumsa's mother for loving him so much to bring him to the orphanage to live; thankful to the people at the Toukoul orphanage for matching us with a beautiful, healthy child; thankful that G-d was watching over us and all was progressing smoothly....I was just thankful.

Of course, I immediately shared the news with Tim. He was actually speechless when I called. Later, he would tell me that Zach was so happy and astounded he cried all the way home from his baseball practice.