It's been a long two years. A long, stressful two years. I know more families/children wait so much longer for permanency. I know that in our case things moved rather quickly, most likely to do with the details of the case itself and because Maggie had already been placed with family who was willing to adopt if it came down to it. In any event, we walked through the courtroom doors yesterday to legally adopt two of the most precious beings I have ever had the pleasure of welcoming into my life.
We arrived early, about an hour because of the snow that had begun coming down early that morning. We were afraid they might cancel the hearing because we were supposed to get six inches but the closer it got the less likely.
Sitting in that hall way, waiting for our time, 1:20pm, was one of the longest hours of my life and yet it passed by so quickly. Maggie ran up and down the hall in her new little ankle boots and yellow dress, Walter sat quietly on my lap while watching Ms. Rachel (I don't know what we would do without her sometimes). My husband and I waiting nervously for this all to finally come to an end.
We were lucky that day in that we got in about 20 minutes early, it was a process easier than getting married if I'm being totally honest. We sat there before the judge, the GAL and our adoption attorney seated at the other table. A few questions and there we were, done.
The weight that was lifted off our shoulders in that moment felt like an elephant. It was all worth it in the end. The 16 months of visits I either had to supervise or cart Maggie to, the court dates I sat through listening to why she was in care in the first place and trying not to cry, the uncertainty I felt at every single one, the meetings every six months to discuss the case. Then came Walter, beginning it all over again, except with him rights were given up at birth, sparing him and myself the stress of visits with people he didn't know.
Hearing the judge grant our adoption of these two little angels was the highlight of my entire last two years. To know they're mine is so reassuring. I knew that it was unlikely that their worker would ever remove them from our care because we were family and they want to keep children with their family as much as possible, but there was always a slim chance something could change. You never know when you're dealing with the courts.
They're ours now though. Forever and ever, Amen!
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