"Mother's Day Chocolate"

Aaron and I subscribe to Adoptive Families magazine.  Each time it comes I scour it thoroughly...I love the information it provides and love, love, love to look at all the pictures of the cutest little kids EVER!!  We can't wait to send a picture of Halle in to them in hopes of getting it printed!  So...in the June issue that we got in May there was this AMAZING story.  I looked for the link to it on their website, but...I could not find it.  I have posted it here in it's entirety.  Be blessed AND...get out your kleenex.  I read it to Aaron one Saturday morning and both of us were crying.  I just felt such a connection with this Mom....I had felt like her so many times on Mother's Day.  I have a few more posts as we lead up to Mother's Day, the day I have been looking forward to for many, many years!!!

On May 6, 2007, my husband, George, and I were leaving church when I said to him, " I don't want to go to church next Sunday."  It was selfish, but I couldn't help it.  Each year, on Mother's Day, the preacher asks all of the mothers to stand and be honored with a special token-usually a piece of chocolate.  The gift is trivial, of course, but it denotes something more, something I didn't have and wanted so much: a child to love.  For several years, my husband watched me quietly cry into my hands during the ritual.  He didn't protest when I told him I couldn't bear it again.  But that day, our lives changed suddenly and, it seemed, miraculously.

Surprise!

A friend called while George and I were at lunch.  She told us to call another friend of ours, who is an OB/GYN.  He'd delivered a baby the day before, and he wanted to talk with us, but didn't have our cell numbers.  We sped home in stunned silence as we realized what might be happening.  

George and I dialed our friend's number from the kitchen.  We stood at opposite sides of the counter, staring at each other with wide eyes, as our friend told us that a young woman had delivered a healthy baby girl at his hospital the day before.  During his follow-up rounds, she had asked him if he knew of a family that might adopt the baby. 

The baby girl had black hair and olive skin, similar to mine.  Our friend said she immediately reminded him of me.  He asked if we were still trying to conceive.  We told him about the emotional roller-coaster we'd been on, and about the most recent failed IVF.

We spoke about the baby's health and the birthmother's circumstances.  I'll never forget what came next.  George asked, "How long do we have to think about this?"  Our friend said, "The mother's leaving the hospital in 40 minutes."

George and I looked at each other, and each saw the answer on the other's face.  We didn't even hang up the phone to talk it over.

"Yes!" we both exclaimed.

During the seven-hour drive, George and I fell into periods of contemplative silence interspersed with manic discussion-what names did we like?  How would we manage our work schedules?  What did we need to do to our house?  How amazingly, unbelievably, wonderful was this?  

We held hands as we walked into the hospital.  It was late, and the halls were quiet.  George and I felt so very small as we were led to the nursery.  And from the moment we laid eyes on our little girl, we were in love.

The sweetest thing

We had to remain in our baby's birthplace for two-and-a-half weeks to complete paperwork.  The next Sunday, George and my mother (who'd also driven a long way to be with her new granddaughter) slept in.  I was feeding my daughter a bottle when my cellphone rang.  It was George's cousin, who lives in our town and goes to our church.  

"Shelley," she whispered.  "I'm in church.  They're saying the Mother's Day prayer."  She held the phone up, so I could hear our preacher's words.  

"He's asking all the adoptive mothers to stand up," she whispered.  Then losing control, she shouted into the phone, "Shelley, STAND UP!"

There I was standing in the living room of our rented home-away-from-home, laughing and crying.  George and my mom came in to see why I was making so much noise.  But this time, I was crying the happiest tears I'd ever known.  And in my arms, I held something sweeter than all the Mother's Day chocolate in the world.

I'm sure....you cried like I did...I cried again while typing this.  All those amazing, wonderful feelings of getting "the phone call" came back to me again.  The feelings I felt the first time I saw Halle and her birthmother placed her in my arms!!  WOW!!  God is so very good!!  I have been a mother since November 21, 2008.  This is the most challenging, yet rewarding, thing I have EVER done.  But...this weekend I have been thinking of those women out there who want nothing more in this world than to be a mother.  I'm praying for them....praying God will bless them with this joy.  Whether it be through adoption or giving birth themselves.  Please join me in praying for them.