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Gotcha Day! A Gratituesday Post

First, is anyone else feeling late spring fever, or is it just me? I haven’t been able to focus on any specific projects very well for several days now, and I’m not sure if today is going to be any better. I’ve just been wanting to sit with ice tea and a great book and enjoy the beautiful weather - since I know at any moment it’s going to get H.O.T. here in Las Vegas, as then I will want to be INSIDE with the AC up HIGH.

I’m going to get caught up on the “normal” weekly posts around here soon, but today I have to write about Gotcha Day. Mother’s Day is always a significant holiday for me, and I experience a lot of emotion, sentiment, and flashbacks when it draws near, because six years ago (today) I became a mother through adoption.

It happened to be a Monday, the day AFTER Mother’s Day, six years ago. Because of health issues and loss of pregnancies, and waiting on the adoption process, I had been through several very painful Mother’s Days. I had reached a point where I didn’t attend church every year on Mother’s Day, because I couldn’t handle the sermon, the “everyone who is a mother, please stand up”, and all the rest.

But six years ago on Mother’s Day, I knew we were days, possibly HOURS, away from bringing Samuel home to be our son. I was ALMOST a mother, but unlike a pregnant mother-to-be, I coudn’t be SURE that I was going to be one. I was hopeful beyond belief, but my becoming a mother wasn’t about birth and labor pains. Instead my becoming a mother was completely dependent on the decision that Samuel’s birth mother had to make. I had to wait until Monday morning, when Samuel’s birth mother had a meeting set up with the Social Worker, and even then there was no guarantee that she would make the final decision and sign the necessary papers that would essentially make Samuel my son.

So, Mother’s Day was an incredibly bittersweet day. When the “will all the mothers please stand up…will all the mothers-to-be please stand up” time came during the service, I just cried and cried, and refused to stand up, even though many of the friends around me said I SHOULD. I was too afraid to stand up, in case the next day should come and she changed her mind.

Of course, she didn’t change her mind, and May 13th, 2002 was one of the best days (albeit stressful!) of my life. We met with her and the social worker, and the folks who were caring for him, and we all prayed together and she said “goodbye”. Samuel came home with us, and I was a mother.

And today is the anniversary of that day, or as we call it, Gotcha Day! Samuel and I will be going out for a fun evening together, just him and me. We’ll talk a little about what the day means, and he’ll be semi-interested for a few minutes and then he’ll want to talk about aliens or scooby doo. I’ll try not to get TOO overly sentimental, and try not to get teary eyed, and I’ll hug him extra tight a few times. And I’ll be thankful… really, really, really thankful.

(May 14, 2002 - first picture in our home of me as MOM!)

(And yes, I know you can’t see my face, but I still LOVE this picture!)

Won’t you join in with me for Gratituesday, and share something you are thankful for?  Please consider clicking on over to Laura’s blog and posting a link to YOUR Gratituesday post, or leaving a comment here (or there) about what you are thankful for today?

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