This post will be ineloquent and unpoetic and nothing like I hoped it would be the million times I’ve written it in my head since Thursday night.
On Thursday afternoon at 3:10pm, I received a call from our adoption worker. She told me that there was a possible placement of two little girls and that another worker would be calling me within minutes to find out if Jenn and I would take them immediately. She provided minimal details and asked that we make a decision as quickly as possible to get the girls settled in for the night.
Mind you, I’ve had the worst cold of my life this week. As the week’s gone on, I’ve gotten sicker and sicker. (I think I’m turning the corner today, thank God.) So, when the placement worker called, I had the beginning whispers of laryngitis. I called Jenn, who was just finishing up her school day, navigating the 12 “press this number” prompts to get to the main office to have her paged. “It’s an emergency’, I told the receptionist. When Jenn reached the phone, I said, ‘Don’t talk, just listen. And absorb as quickly as possible because this is real.’
I told her what I knew about the girls and we agreed that, yes, of course, we would take them. We went into preparation mode instantly, Jenn trying frantically to locate one of her principals at school to let her know she would be missing work, at least for the next few days, and me calling back the placement worker, as well as my mom and stepdad to find out if they would be available for a Target run. With each call, my voice faded until, by the time we waited in the lobby for the girls to arrive, it was nearly gone. The girls arrived with their caseworker at 7:30 that night and life has been nothing like we imagined it could be since then.
All I can really say about the girls is that they’re 18 months and 12 days old. Sisters. The rest I protect for reasons of confidentiality. They’re in our care now as a foster placement. (We’re foster moms!!!) Early next week there will be a hearing to determine whether they stay with us longer, and then it’s a long, arduous, legal process to determine whether the girls will be made available for adoption.
Right now we’re taking things one day at a time. My mom & stepdad were an immense help with errands and baby holding and diaper changing and bottle feeding the first night and day. Then, last night, two of Jenn’s friends from work arrived with a van — literally — of stuff they’d collected from various members of their school community. We’ve gone from having absolutely nothing to having almost everything we need overnight. Jenn’s mom and stepdad can hardly wait to send their care package from Florida and we’ve been overwhelmed by so many offers to help, we haven’t been able to respond to even half of them.
Needless to say, we are in love. The girls are perfect. At first there was the worry: ‘We can’t get too attached b/c what if they don’t stay in our care for very long.’ That worry was quickly usurped by the ardent belief that ‘These are our girls now and we will be everything to them for as long as they’re with us. It’s not about us. It’s about them.’
Of course, we’re exhausted. Even with all the help so far. I’m still getting over the illness that shall not be named. This morning, Jenn pulled what she thought was a clean bowl from the cupboard only to find it covered in peanut butter from yesterday’s snack. We are putting dirty bowls in clean places, people!
What we need now are hopes and prayers that, as this whole process moves forward, all decisions are made in the best interest of our girls. Also, anyone in the local area (aka. any family & friends who know what I mean by local area) with a couple hours to spare this first week, particularly during the upcoming work week, we would so, so, so appreciate extra baby-holding arms around while we find our bearings.
Case in point:
It’s been a whirlwind and we have no idea where it’s going…but never in a million years did we imagine such unbelievably satisfying days.












