"Take an action each day that alleviates suffering in the world. Bring light into darkness."
-Angeles Arrien


Here is the test to find whether your mission on earth is finished:
If you're alive, it isn't.
--- Richard Bach

I have come to realize more and more that the greatest disease and the greatest suffering is to be unwanted, unloved, uncared for, to be shunned by everybody, to be just nobody [to no one]
--Mother Teresa


We were not separated at your birth.
It was the moment at which we began our journey toward each other
.
-Nancy McGuire Roche

Thursday, April 02, 2009

Babies 2nd Birthday; My thoughts

We celebrated the twins second birthday; I cannot believe my babies are two years old. Where does the time go? How come the 18 months of adoption hell dragged on like slow motion but the 17 months they have been with us has flown by lightning speed? I really am not ready for it to be moving so fast. Every day I have them is a joy and I just want to savor it. What did I ever do to deserve such a gift?

Lots of things run through my mind on this special day. This is the second birthday I have been blessed to spend with them. They are two special souls that entered my life in a very unique way. When I look at Meliah and Khai there is no doubt in my mind they were put here on this earth to be mine; we were destined to be together. It scares me sometimes to think about if we had not found each other. I often think about what if I had done something different during the adoption process. What if I had gone with the first agency I had originally signed with that worked in a different province? What if I had not chose to have major elective surgery that delayed my second home study visit? The day I contacted my second agency Meliah and Khai were In Vietnam waiting to age in; waiting for me. I did not expect twins but my coordinator told me about two eight week old babies who needed a home. I could have chose to wait for a toddler and baby but the minute she mentioned these twins I knew it was destiny and they were meant to be mine. It terrifies me to think if I had made that call one month later.

So far their birthdays have been a bittersweet day for me. I find myself being happy and sad all at once. I never expected to feel this way. I am happy because it is the joyous day they were born into his world but sad because it is not a day that I can look back and remember two years ago. There are so many things I do not know about the day Meliah and Khai were born. So many stories I will never be able to share with them. So many things I ache to know and so many firsts I wish I had been there to witness. I often wonder what time they were born; it bothers me that I do not know which of my children is older. This is a day they share with their birth mothers and I would never begrudge them those short special moments but if I am 100 % honest with myself I must admit that I am jealous of these moments and memories their birth mothers share with them today that I am not a part of. It surprises me I feel this way but I must be honest. I will always be indebted to their birth mothers and will always think of them on this special day. They have given me a gift more precious than I could have ever hoped for and I will always be grateful for that. I hope they are at peace on this day and the memories they have of Meliah and Khais birth will always be a treasured gift.

This reminds me of a topic lately on one of the blogs I read. It was a discussion about if and how you celebrate your adoptive children referral and giving and receiving day. I was surprised to read how many AP who do not celebrate or do not want to make a big out of these days mostly because of their bio kids. I cannot agree with this. One of the reasons I will always celebrate and make a big deal out of the babies referral and especially G and R day is because that is OUR official “birthday” together. That feels to me like their day of birth. That is the first day I laid eyes on them, held them and the day they were “born” into our family. It is a day of pure joy for me. It is all the first moments that we will forever share. It is a day to tell all the stories of our firsts .I cannot give them these things on the actual day of their birth but I can give it to them on the day they were finally “born” to us. It will always be a very special day worth celebrating to me. I don’t think my bio kids would ever want to take that away from us or them.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Two already? Wow I cannot believe that I am that far behind...I am going to include your info on the fundraising/giveaway in my next post as well!

margaret said...

We celebrate our kids' g&r days with cake and candles. We just celebrated my daughter's 6th. She calls the day her anniversary. We say that having two celebrations a year with cake and candles is one of the perks of adoption.

SLM said...

Found you through the Multiples and More blog...

My husband and I adopted twin boys in Vung Tau, VN on June 19, 2007. :-)

We are thrilled to celebrate "Family Day" each June 19th with our kids, and have plans to make it a special day every year until they don't want us to any longer.

For us, the date is special because it's the day we became a family of four instead of two families of two. I believe it deserves as much attention and recognition as birthdays and wedding anniversaries. It saddens me to think that other people don't want to celebrate such a joyous occasion...

Congrats on your adoption, even if it's 17 months after the fact. :-)

SLM said...

Oh, I meant to add that last year we celebrated Family Day by spending the better part of the day at Disney (we live close by) and went out that evening for a traditional Vietnamese meal in town.

This year our plan is to go to Disney again, enjoy a character breakfast, hit the park for a while and then go out for Vietnamese in the evening. I can't wait!