Monday, February 6, 2012

Birthday letter to a Birth Mother I'll Never Meet.....

OK, so I've missed Wordless Wednesday the last 2 weeks :-)  I'll be more proactive this week!!

(typed all of this on Elise's birthday, Saturday February 4th)
So today Elise turns 2!!!!! I can't believe it! We waited for her for so long. At times the wait was painful, frustrating and seemed never ending. And now she's here! She's been here for over 7 months. It seems like yesterday I was opening up the email to see her face for the first time, then hoping on a plane 8 months later to go get her, then holding her for the first time, and bringing her home to her forever family and placing her in the arms of her daddy! Feeling so blessed by this amazing journey, amazing daughter, and an amazing God who orchestrated the whole thing!

There is also a mother out there somewhere who is remembering this day a little different than me. She remembers laboring and delivering a beautiful baby girl that she could not keep. She remembers holding her crying newborn baby and soothing her. She remembers staring at every inch of this baby girl and trying to memorize it. She needed to burn the image of her baby in her mind, because tomorrow she would not see this baby anymore. Maybe she begged her husband to let her keep the baby, maybe she named this tiny little girl she held so close, maybe she sang the baby to sleep......

My mind can go on and on imagining the joy she felt holding her baby and the pain she felt knowing what laid ahead. Sometime in the night of February 4th, she wrapped her baby in a blanket, she said goodbye to her precious baby and she, or someone she knew placed the baby at the gates of the Poyang SWI.

I wish I could tell her all about the baby girl she gave up. If I could, this is what I'd say......

Dear Birth Mother,

I wish I could tell you that she is doing great. That she is in the US, in a small town in the state of Indiana. She has a family with 2 brothers and 1 sister. She has a mom and a dad, and a huge extended family, and all of them love her very much!

I would tell you that Elise is happy, playful and full of energy! She smiles all the time! She smiles so big her eyes disappear! Her laugh is contagious. She walks, runs, and even skips! She talks nonstop :-) She LOVES food! She loves to play with her brothers and sister. She loves playing with sidewalk chalk, her power wheels jeep and baby dolls. She is very attached to her bear blankey. She is terrified of animals. She weighs 28 lbs now! She is growing like a weed! She has a great life full of everything she needs, and most of what she wants.

She was the missing piece to our family. We love her so much and can't imagine our lives without her! We are forever grateful for your sacrifice. You gave up something so dear and precious to you, in hopes that she would have a better life. Because of your sacrifice, we have been forever blessed with a daughter!

Thank you,
Tracy/adoptive mother

3 comments:

  1. Beautiful, Tracy. Give that sweet baby girl a hug from her travel buddies. Happy Birthday, Elise!

    Have you ever read the book, "Message from an Unknown Chinese Mother"? Very interesting and heartbreaking too.

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  2. Beyond sweet. So very touching. Elise could not have wished for a family that would treasure her more. Tracy, you amaze me with these hidden gifts of yours (Your writing!). Wow! Can not wait to see you all!!!

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  3. Natalie, I have not read that book. I need to get it!

    Lynne, thanks! I can't wait to head south either!!

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