So a few days ago, when Maggie brought up the matter of her adoption, it was no great surprise to me. She wanted me to tell her about the day we actually went to the courthouse and her adoption was made final. I began to explain it to her, and when I got to the part about the judge she said, "There was a judge?"
"Yes," I answered her.
Her eyes grew wide and she gasped and said, "Was it Judge Judy?"
I laughed and explained that it was actually not Judge Judy, but a man named Judge Diamond.
"Were we on T.V.?" she continued.
"Were we on T.V.?" she continued.
"No," I told her, "We were at the Macon County Courthouse. Not nearly as exciting."
She seemed a little deflated that her adoption was somehow not as "flashy" as she was imaging it in her head. Truly, I wonder what sort of fantasy she had concocted in her head about the day of the adoption.
I do remember the day of her adoption quite well. We had fought for Maggie for almost 19 months in court (she lived with us since she was three days old though.) On the day of her adoption, we were in the courtroom with family and friends, and it was my turn to testify on the witness stand (which is just a formality once you have reached that point in the adoption process.) Maggie, however, was a very energetic toddler and did not want to be contained by sitting on a bench with her grandparents. She fussed and whined and made it clear that she wouldn't be happy until she was allowed to get down and walk. Since we were the only ones in the courtroom, the judge said, "just let her be - she won't hurt anything." Thus, my 19-month old went wandering around the courtroom while I was giving testimony on the witness stand.
She meandered all over the courtroom, winding her way among all the guests we had with us, up to the court reporter, and finally coming to see me on the witness stand. At that point, she decided to play "peek a boo" by bending down behind the wall and popping her head up and yelling "boo!" at everyone. She was a hoot, but it totally distracted me giving my testimony to the point that our attorney had to remind me to pay attention to his questions. When it was all said and done and the judge declared the adoption granted, I don't think there was a dry eye in the house. I cried out of joy, and I cried from the relief of knowing that our struggle was finally over and that she was officially ours, forever.
Not exactly the grand beginning that she had pictured, but yet, one of the very best days of my life.
Chris, Maggie & I - Maggie's Adoption Day, June 10, 2002
Our attorney (Garry Davis), Maggie & I - -
Maggie's Adoption Day, June 10, 2002
2 comments:
Thank you so much, for a gentle reminder of how my oldest grandchild officially became that. Sweet memories, still precious after all these years.
That made me cry with anticipation and happiness.
Post a Comment