black and white Wednesday - 8 years

I shall be called by a new name, embraced by a fresh pair of arms, but I shall come and go, the eternal me. 

~ Rabindranath Tagore

Late Summer is the time of year that I'm brought back to China,

because it was on the evening of

August 31, 2003 our lives changed forever.

In a hotel room in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, 

a beautiful 12 month old baby girl named 'Fu Lan Li'

was brought into our room. I will never forget how easily she came to me
and gave us a shy little smile.

'Lanli' as we called her in China, would become 'Grace Lanli Elizabeth'

when we arrived home to the U.S.
A joyful, loving and kind little girl, she's many years of hopes and dreams come true.

The years have flown by and our gift of Grace
led us to adopt William.
When I think about how much our lives have changed in the past 8 years,
it's pretty mind boggling.
The changes have all been good.

What we didn't know 8 years ago was that it
wouldn't be as simple as a child joining our family,
we would become a part of a very large extended family all
held together with the common thread of adoption.
It's an adoption community of kind and supportive people,
who encourage and help in anyway they can.

'
Recently I was asked
why I wanted to adopt in the first place and my answer was,
 "Well, I knew there were many children out there that needed a mommy
and I wanted to be one.
God did the rest."


Our dearest Grace, we cannot imagine our lives without you.

 

Taken Sept. 11, 2003 in Guangzhou
before we left for the U.S. consulate ceremony.
The red shoes Grace is wearing in the picture now
reside with some other keepsakes from China
in a little cupboard in her bedroom.