For us, Thanksgiving is a “Celebration of Family”. For this, we are truly thankful!

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday.  Sitting down with family and friends, reflecting on what is bountiful in our lives.  NO glitz NO glamour NO gifts – just pure content. Now our Thanksgiving celebration has even greater meaning.  More than I think we could have ever asked for.  Thanksgiving will always be more special to us for the remainder of our lives.  For us, Thanksgiving is a Celebration of Family. 

From the time I was a little girl I had dreamed of being a Mom.  It was something that nestled deep inside me and something that always seemed just out of reach.  In June 2005, after just being married for a couple of months, Sean and I found out that conceiving a child would not be possible.  Having close friends that had twice adopted internationally, we didn’t even hesitate with starting our own adoption journey.  We knew it would be a long process and that it wasn’t going to be easy.  However, we weren’t prepared for the emotional rollercoaster we were about to ride.  Certain that we wanted to adopt a baby boy, our research lead us to international adoption in Guatemala. 

After an exhaustive research of adoption agencies, we signed with For This Child in Texas in January 2006.  On Mother’s Day of that year, we received our referral of a beautiful baby boy, Gabriel.  He was so tiny at only 4 lbs 6 oz.  The next several months were full of highs and a lot of lows.  Sean and I held our child for the first time when he was just two months old and spent a glorious week with him in Guatemala.  Our hearts broke into millions of pieces when we had to leave him with his foster mother.  Only being comforted by her amazing bond with him, we knew she loved our son and would keep him safe.

We watched from afar as he gain weight and flourished in his environment; reaching milestones that we could only observe in pictures and read about in reports.  Our agency was very pro-active in keeping us informed.  Each month we received reports on Gabe’s doctor’s appointments and home visit reports along with 30 – 40 pictures.  We endured the struggles of the Guatemalan court systems.  The political unrest and continual security issues that would crop up overnight without warning made the end result seem far away and at times doubtful.

Initially, it was thought Gabe would be home by the end of August, then it was September and then by Halloween.  The month of October was fully of major instability in the Guatemalan adoption process.  Presidential mandates by the Guatemalan President to shut down adoptions were instituted and then rescinded. 

On November 2, 2006, while shopping in Target I received a call from our agency’s director.  She had an early birthday present for me which was just two days away.   We had exited the final court system with approval, Gabe’s new birth certificate was being issued and we should start to prepare for our trip to Guatemala to pick up our son. 

If you were in the Charleston Target that evening and saw a woman breaking down in the middle of the store – well that was me.  I started crying – I couldn’t speak.  I don’t remember how we ended the conversation – I really don’t remember the rest of the conversation. 

I realized that I couldn’t share our news with anyone.  Sean was teaching that evening and wouldn’t be out of class until 10 p.m.  He had to be the first one that I told and I wanted to tell him in person and not on the phone.  I don’t know how I got through those next few hours.  Well, I did shop for more baby things.  I bought a bunch of It’s a boy balloons and decorated the living room for when Sean arrived home. 

After two more long weeks, we finally got our travel dates to go to Guatemala the weekend before Thanksgiving.  We were booked to return on Wednesday (the day before Thanksgiving).  We knew that our return trip date would be dependent on the process in Guatemala and that we may end up spending the holidays there. 

It was such a joyous occasion to be reunited with Gabe.  I smiled so much my jaw hurt.  It was also heartbreaking to see his foster mother say goodbye. He didn’t miss a beat when he was placed in my arms.  It was if we had never been separated.   We had a few days to relax and reconnect and then complete the last steps necessary to bring our son home.

The end process was hectic but we somehow got it all achieved without a glitch and boarded our return flight home at noon on Wednesday; scheduled to arrive around 7:30 p.m. in Charleston.  Well like most travel plans on the day before Thanksgiving, they didn’t go as planned.  We arrived in Atlanta on time and hustled through the immigration process necessary to bring Gabe into the States.  We even participated in a swearing in ceremony for Gabe as a U.S. Citizen. 

We were quickly running out of time and raced to our gate that was at the opposite end of the airport only to find out that the gate listings were wrong.  We ran to our correct gate to then find out that our flight was delayed.  Through this entire day of travel, Gabe was an absolute angel.  He never cried or fussed.  A great relief to his new parents.

After several hours of waiting we board our final flight from Atlanta to Charleston at 11 p.m. to only be delayed again.  Sitting on the tarmac due to a generator failure in a tiny plane with cranky passengers, Gabe lay on my chest sleeping.  Finally, they get the plane running and we’re up in the air. 

Just a few minutes after midnight, in the early hours of Thanksgiving morning, we land in Charleston.  To finally be home in West Virginia with our son was such a huge relief; I finally could exhale! Our son was home at last and we would all rest well tonight being under one roof.

We are met by our family and friends who waited long hours for our arrival and to get an up-close look at our newest addition to the family. Our adoption journey finally came to a fruitful end and gave reason for a true Thanksgiving celebration! 

Thanksgiving will always be a day for us to celebrate our family.  Our Forever Family Day - for this we give thanks.

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