Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Has it already been 6 Years??

Dec 31 will forever hold a special meaning for me, ever since Dec 31, 2002.

You see in Nov 2001 I had submitted my dossier to China for a little girl. The wait stretched out to a 13 month wait. Which, for the people waiting for babies from China today is a NOTHING wait, but, at the time, it was the start of the "Long" waits. Because Nov 2001 was a large month for applicants (the singles quota was going into effect on Dec 1 & agencies pushed as many singles as they could into those Nov batches), the referrals were coming from China in monthly batches, one week of referrals at a time. I had missed the previous batch of referrals by a day, so when word came that referrals were on their way, I knew mine would be in the batch.

Frantically following along on my various Yahoo adoption groups, I knew my dossier date was included & that my referral was imminent. My agency was in TX & I lived & worked in CA. Historically, referrals came out in the early afternoon. At that time, I was working between two offices. So, around noon PT, I called my agency rep, to see if she'd heard anything. She had not. So, I told her I was going to travel to my second office & would be out of cell range for about an hr. As fate had it, she received my referral 10 min later & had to wait to call me back.

As soon as I walked into the office, my receptionist called out that my agency was on the phone!! I ran to my office & heard the words that made me a mom:

- a girl
- born May 2002......so just 8 months old
- From Fuzhou, Jiangxi
- Then she spelled her name...L..I..N..D..(at that point I thought WAIT..I'm Naming her Lindsi, are they giving me the wrong name??....A...Lin Da.
- And here is the picture that I opened

Hmmmmmm...she honestly looked nothing like I thought she would. Sort of resembled a mini Mr Magoo to me. I even felt a little deflated.

However, the next day I received my FEDEX package & this picture. Immediately I saw her spirit.....I saw personality......I FELT that picture (& at times, I still see THIS baby in her face).....& from then on it was just a 6 week countdown until we traveled to China.


Here's my beautiful girl today.......


Can't believe it's been 6 years.....it has gone fast & yet, it feels like she's been a part of my life forever. Happy Referral Anniversary to my other Nov 2001 Waiters, otherwise known as the QBQs...Quick Before Quotas....

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Aaw, Happy Referral Day!
I don't think we will ever forget the memories and emotions of these kind of anniversaries.

Happy New Year to you all!

ourchinagirls said...

Wow Debby!! Doesn't it seem like just yesterday? We actually received our referral on Dec. 30th. And just think...our daughters are a day apart in age! And I think our younger kids are too!!

Happy New Year!
~~Christie~~
A QBQ too

Laurie said...

What a great post! And you are right - the spirit does 'show' in that second picture. She's a beautiful girl, then and now. Happy Referral Day, and Happy New Year!

Amy said...

Oh Debby, I can only imagine that breathtaking moment when you saw Lindsi for the first time! She was a beauty then and she is a beauty now...both of your baby girls are! I love the Christmas pictures. It looks as if you all enjoyed such a happy day. :) All best wishes to your precious family for the New Year...Love, Amy

Mailia's Mom said...

Hey Debby, congrats on your referral anniversary! Your story was touching and humorous as well. Love the Mr. Magoo part. lol But yes, you have a stunner now! She and Jami are both beautiful!
Happy New Year!
Shirley Hauer
Mailia's Mom