Forward:
To those who are about to adopt, we salute you!
To know that you were chosen, that someone wanted you and traveled a great distance to find you and bring you home: What a profound concept! To be able to choose: To make a determined, dynamic, and decisive commitment to rescue a child from abandonment and offer her life. An international adoption encompasses such choices: Life choices; Choices that impact the lives of a family and a waiting child forever. Given the wait, expense, complexities, and unknowns of adoption, not to mention the added intricacies of an international adoption, the journey itself can be a challenging experience. I can offer this encouragement: It is a choice that quickens the spirit and broadens your world beyond anything you may have previously experienced. It’s no wonder that so many people who have adopted internationally go back and repeat the process: It truly is that rewarding.
Looking back at when we first started this process, I recalled something Hillary Clinton once said; "It takes a village to raise a child." There is indeed solid truth to that statement: It takes so many things coming together in perfect timing to develop a self-reliant and well adjusted being in our self-indulgent and dysfunctional world. When adopting abroad, it is vital to have a great "village" from the start: The right people supporting and working with you, including family, friends and especially a top notch adoption agency. As we set sail upon the voyage to bring our daughter home from China, we were truly blessed to have a great "village" in our corner. After all, the actual adoption is only the beginning of a far greater journey- parenthood!
When we first seriously entertained the notion of adopting from China, one thing that impacted us the most was meeting other families who had just done what we were about to do. We were fascinated with their stories and drank in every detail about their journey. From the outset, we wanted to chronicle our adventure so that we too could share our story with those interested in doing what we did. This home-made documentary is a collection of the proverbial "rhyme & reason" related to our choice to adopt from China. It is my hope that our story will inspire, encourage, and impact families considering this option. We have included photos, humor, and our own perspective in hopes you will see we are very ordinary people. Maybe you’ll look at this and think: "You know, if they can do it, so can we!" We did, and you can too!
I introduce this journal with my favorite poem by Robert Frost, entitled The Road Less Traveled. The poem has nothing to do with adoption per se; Rather, it is about the choices we make in life. At first, the idea of traveling to China to adopt a child seemed as dark, ominous, and mysterious as the path he speaks of in his poem. One truth about taking a path that you’ve never been down before: It’s a little intimidating! Too many unknowns, too many "what if’s," and the inability to see what lies ahead on the path before you. It all starts with the first step: In the end, it was the path that made all the difference in our lives!
THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth
Then took the other as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet, knowing how way leads onto way
I doubted if I should ever come back
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence
Two roads diverged in a wood
And I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference
Robert Frost
