Six years ago Jamie and I sat in the American Embassy in Guatemala City, Guatemala, holding our tiny baby boy. Baby girl is now almost the exact age Big Brother was when we held him on that day in the embassy. Holding her makes me remember how small he was. I remember dressing him in this tiny zip-up hoodie and khaki pants and having his picture made in it for his visa. He was nothing but big dark eyes and pouty red lips on a round tan canvas, a lighter version of what his little sister looks like now.
There were many other almost-adoptive parents there who clutched their own babies in a mixture of love and anxiety. Before we left for our take home trip, several people commented on how Brother looked like us, me in particular. I have dark eyes and hair too. One person even asked if they matched the babies with parents based on looks. Jamie and I laughed at the question, but as we sat in that room observing the parents with their babies we started to wonder the same thing. A baby with a long serious nose jumped in the lap of a mother with a similarly long and serious nose. A little girl baby with thick straight eyebrows sat in the lap of her adoptive father with the same eyebrow shape. We then saw a large woman with curly fire-red hair piled in a mess on top of her head. Jamie and I shared a look, our theory had been debunked. There was no way a Guatemalan baby could look like a pale red headed woman. Then the lady's husband sat her adoptive baby in her lap. The baby had the same curly hairdo, only a darker shade. Maybe there was something to the theory after all.
In our family An Adoption Day is like a birthday, but only with our immediate family. It's more personal, to me, than a birthday. We give one small gift, have a special meal, and do something fun as a family. Each year I tell Brother about his special day and try to explain to him what it means to be adopted. Each year he seems to understand a little more. This year he found pleasure in hearing that his name, before we officially changed it, was the same as a bad guy in Plants vs. Zombies. And then the book he chose to read tonight was about Batman and Robin, featuring the second Robin. It also mentioned that the first Robin, who became Nightwing, was an "orphaned acrobat who was adopted by Bruce Wayne." Most people know that Superman was adopted (we all have matching T shirts saying just that. They are available on www.olivetreepromise.com) but not as many people may know that Dick Grayson was actually adopted by Bruce Wayne. A fun fact that made our Adoption Day special. When we read over that part, Brother paused and had a proud look on his face that he had something in common with one of his heroes.
Another special bonus to Brother's Adoption Day was a special package that just happened to arrive today. My good friend sent a present to Brother that her husband picked up while he was traveling in Central America. It was a wonderful reminder of Brother's home country on his special day. So if you are reading this before we can tell you thank you ourselves, thank you very much Jamie and Michael! Your timing couldn't have been more perfect.
When I was tucking him in bed tonight I asked him if its was a good day. He said yes with a partially toothless grin. I did my job. I made him proud of who he is today, and I couldn't imagine my life without him.
