Adoption Day

Monday was our Adoption Day.

For those of you who aren't part of the Adoption community, Adoption Day is our anniversary. I've heard other families refer to it as Gotcha Day, Airplane Day, or Family Day, but it amounts to the same thing: a celebration of the day we became a family.

We have traditions in our family.

We eat vanilla fudge twirl ice cream. It symbolizes our family: we're stuck together forever, and you can't get us apart, and while you can still see the differences among us, we're better because we're together, just like the chocolate and vanilla ice cream.

While we eat, I tell this story:

Once upon a time, Daddy and I decided that we needed more love in our lives, so we went out and adopted a dog.

[Boo: What?!]

Yes, we adopted Darwin (of Blessed memory,) but that didn't do it, so we decided we should have a baby. We thought about all the different ways to have a family. Some people grow their babies in the mommy's tummy. Some find their babies in America, but we were looking for one special baby, and we didn't think we'd find her either of those ways.

We were looking for a special baby who would grow up to love music and animals and swimming. She'd be smart and funny and stubborn as a mule, and sometimes waiting for things would be hard for her, but we'd love her forever and her name would be Boo.

So we started our search. We asked advice from our cousins who had adopted before us. We checked out every adoption agency we could find. And finally we met a woman named Mrs. Mason. Mrs. Mason had met a baby in St. Petersburg, Russia who she thought might be the right Boo for us, so we got on a plane to go check.

We met the baby and she was just right, so we asked her if she wanted to come home with us and be our Boo and I would be her Mama and Hopper would be her Dad. And she said, "Booma!" Because she wanted to be Boo and she wanted me to be her Ma.

So we signed the paper saying we wanted to adopt her and we said goodbye and went home, and a few weeks later we came back and asked the Judge if we could be Boo's forever family.

And the Judge said yes, and that was on this day, nine years ago.

And now you're stuck with us.

Now, finish your ice cream and go to bed.