Taking notice

04/10/10 11:04 PM
Citizen of the Month at school assembly went very well. Got a few pictures that need to be moved over to my computer. She wouldn't let me take the form home. Instead she kept it in her cubby all day, to cherish and bathe in the moment.
Monday is the big re-adoption for California. I've resisted for quite a while. We were getting along just fine without the added cost and the added papers that tell us what we already know. It just seems so redundant. But after I started looking at it from the outside in...she needs this to advance further in the US. To make life more streamline for her, she needs a California Birth Certificate. She COULD get by with her Chinese papers, but what if the original Chinese papers currently in our possession get lost? We would have to request notarized copies from somewhere in China. What a pain. What if she gets delayed in getting very important papers completed when she's an adult...for travel, for work, for adopting her own child if she chooses to do so. Without a California birth certificate, things can slow down for her in getting things accomplished that she really might need or want to get accomplished in her life. And without re-adopting in California, she cannot receive a Ca birth certificate, and that is the real piece of paper we are needing. The Chinese Birth certificate looks different, than what you would expect here. No raised gold stamp, no official paper (other than any other official looking paper) and typed in Mandarin, then translated to English. It looks good enough, but can certainly appear to outsiders to be questionable official papers.
After much thought, I'm happy we're doing this. It will give us a reaffirmation of our commitment to her. It will give us closure as a family. It will give her another piece of her own journey that is HERS. It will give HER confirmation that the outside world agrees with our choice to be a family. It will show her that we cared enough now, about her future, to do this simple piece of side paper work that only confirms what has already been for 4 years....a family, but Getting a California Birth Certificate can make the difference in her life for almost everything important that comes up.
And oddly, I'm certain the tears will flow again as we sit there with the judge, announcing that we are even more proud today, more in love with her today, more willing to give it our all today, than we were three years ago, when we made that one sentence promise at the US Consulate in China, on adoption day.....In a big building all of the adopting families from all agencies shuffled thru the US Consulate, to the room where we gave them a few pieces of paper, and then, finally, in unison, we stood up, raised our right hands and solumnly swore, "I will never abandon this child" One little sentence that took us 2 hours to ready for, and only 2 seconds to say. But, Scott and I took those words very seriously that day. We absolutely believed that we would do all in our power to cherish her mind, body, and soul. She would be safe and loved and encouraged and appreciated.
On Monday, we will be celebrating the opportunity to promise these things again. I feel blessed.
© 2010 Scott Andersen