What I Learned About Open Adoption in 2011

In March of last year, a year and a month after we'd come home with T, we received several emails from the social worker in Ethiopia, with digital photos of T's family attached. Glory, hallelujah! I sobbed with joy. We saw his brothers and sister for the first time. They were holding the Christmas card we'd sent and had the photo album open to the page where T is wearing his traditional Ethiopian shirt, pointing to that photo. They were clearly pleased that we have honored his culture by clothing him in that shirt. Seeing those photos, I realized with a clarity that had escaped me prior to that moment that we did not leave his family behind in Ethiopia. Despite the hardships of distance and communication, we are not two separate families, but rather one large one, joined by our love for one little boy. I feel an even deeper sense of commitment to keep them informed about how their little boy is blossoming -- fulfilling, and possibly exceeding, all their hopes for him.

To find out what others learned about open adoption in 2011: visit this link

Comments

  1. KJanuary 2, 2012 at 2:17 PM

    So glad this happened for you, and I hope you can connect again soon. If there's anything we can do in our travels to Ethiopia to help, let me know. And thanks for the link!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lara Zierke January 2, 2012 at 11:21 PM

    I love how you phrased that! I know so many adoptive families that are threatened by the birth family. I don't get it. It doesn't make sense to me. Just more people becoming an even bigger family, united by love.

    ReplyDelete
  3. BumbersBumblingsJanuary 3, 2012 at 8:45 AM

    Beautiful!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. ClaudiaJanuary 6, 2012 at 12:24 PM

    ah, it's so good that you get to do this.

    (By the way, I loved your post about running that you gave me the link for. I just commented over there, too).

    ReplyDelete

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