Wish Me Luck
Date: 2015.12.14 | Category: Adoption, Jasmine's Dream, Jessica, William | Tags:
One of the fun things you get to do, as a family that is waiting, is send care packages to your child. After a certain time in the process, your agency will allow you to do this. The agency will send you the address and you are allowed to send small toys, clothes, and other items. We have always enjoyed doing this, spending time shopping for just the right gifts to hopefully show we care. We love trying to guess what their personality is like and find just the right gift.
The problem is that none of our children, except Jasmine and Maisey, have received their gifts. I have no idea why they never received them. They may have been lost in the mail or customs or maybe someone took them. I don’t know but it is frustrating just the same. Jasmine was the only child who came with any of the stuff we gave her. We received Maisey’s disposable camera 2 1/2 years later from Show Hope when they found it at the orphanage in a drawer. We had no indication that Maisey had received anything else from us.
Its frustrating because you send pictures and letters. You want them to know your family and be prepared, at least a little, when they meet you. You take the time to pick out those special gifts and hope that they feel the love you are sending.
Today Jasmine mentioned the letter than Dan had sent her. She was talking about how much it meant to know that her daddy loved her and thought she was beautiful. (Jasmine’s Letter)She said she reread that letter over and over again as she waited for us. Elyse said it must have been nice to get a letter like that. It was then that I realized Elyse never got our care package. We had sent her jewelry, hair accessories, clothes, toys, and tons of pictures and letters from everyone.
I never even thought about it when we met her because Elyse did come with her locket and some of our family pictures. That locket and those pictures were hand delivered by another adoptive mama who had just adopted her daughter. I am thankful that there are other adoptive parents who are willing to ask for and carry items to the children who are still waiting. Thank you Krista for doing that for us. If you are adoptive parents who will travel soon, put the message out in the families of _____ orphanage Facebook groups. I’m positive other parents will appreciate it too.
Luckily, Dan had typed the letter and it was still saved on his computer. Today his little girl got to read how much her daddy loved her before he even met her. He told of falling in love with her sweet face when he saw her picture for the first time. He told her how much he loved hearing her sing and how he couldn’t wait to get her home to be his daughter forever. She cried reading these words. Her foster father didn’t treat her well. She thought she deserved this kind of treatment until she met Dan. She had no idea that she should be adored and loved just for who she is. She couldn’t grasp the unconditional love of a father when we adopted her. Elyse knows what that means now and this letter is just one more thing that proves she has always had worth and she will always be loved.
I have heard that the orphanage that Jessica is in is hit or miss with packages. Some people have said their child came with pictures and their items and others have said that their child said they never, ever received the package. It’s so frustrating because I would love for her to know we care about her. I would love for her to know what we look like and be prepared for her new family.
I wish I knew the rhyme or reason behind why some get them and some don’t. I know there are orphanages who wait until right before the child is adopted because they have been burned before by a family backing out. I can’t imagine what that would do to a child’s heart. How horrible to wait for that forever family you heard you had, who never, ever showed up for you. So I can understand the orphanage wanting to be careful. I can understand somethings getting lost in the mail, but 6 out of 8 packages never making it are pretty bad odds.
I think I may just take the chance that our children will get their packages. I will pray that if they don’t get them, then the person who does get them feels all the love that went into the package and will have their lives changed by it.
Wish us luck. Maybe say a prayer or two that our newest family members actually do get their gifts so they know that they are loved and have a forever family that will be there soon.
