Who Are They For? - UPDATED

Today is a very special day for me. Two years ago today I was a nervous wreck. I was avidly refreshing the Rumor Queen's blog for the latest news. I was in emails with about half a dozen friends and running to the front door of my school looking for a cell phone signal to talk to another. We were all anxiously waiting for news. Rumors had it that referrals would be arriving that morning. We knew that our date was either going to be the end of this batch, or we'd be skipped and would wait another month.

Our coordinator with our agency wasn't allowed to tell us anything before official calls were made that afternoon. I begged her to find a way to just let me know if we were in. The timeframe calls came in were right about the time we got out of school and headed home. I told her we needed to know if we should rush home or take care of our usual errands after school. I was in the middle of an ongoing email exchange with this friend when I got an email from my coordinator telling me to go straight home. Colleen was actually the first person to know that we were officially in the batch. I sent a quick email to Jim and then to all my friends who were in my travel group. Our paperwork was with the same agency, and we all had the same log in date.

I don't even know how I got through that afternoon. I'm sure my students thought I'd lost my mind, but I actually don't remember any of it. Jim and I raced home. We sat at the dining table with the phone and the laptop waiting and waiting and waiting. When that phone rang, my heart stopped, and I began to live.

Don't get me wrong. I had a great life pre-Sera, but it just can't compare to life with her. It was a landing in Oz moment. Suddenly, my life was filled with colors I hadn't even realized were missing.

We wrote down everything we were told in that first phone call. We then immediately started Googling her orphanage and her town. We looked at maps and figured out where our daughter was living. We made phone calls to our parents and my sisters. We then just sat at the table and stared at the map. It was real. We were parents. We were also filled with adrenaline, ready to go, and there was no where to go and nothing to do. Sitting at home was no longer an option, so we jumped in the car and headed out to a Chinese dinner. It seemed appropriate for that night.

It would be a few more days before we actually received her pictures, but she had already stolen my heart.






The answer to my question varies. For some anniversaries are not important. For me, this is one of the most important anniversaries of my life.

Update - By the time I got to the end of this post, I didn't do a very good job of explaining my blog title. I guess I got too caught up in the nostalgia of the moment.

The title came from me thinking about anniversaries. How they vary in importance to people. Some couldn't care less. Some remember every special moment. This anniversary is for me. It didn't change Sera's life that day. The anniversary that really has meaning for Jim comes up in April. When we celebrate anniversaries, who do we do it for? This time around, it's for me.