A Special Memory

This week I am participating in Heads or Tails and the writing prompt is to blog about a special memory.

One of my most special memories is from the the day we finalized the adoption of our three children. We were all feeling so many emotions! We had an 8:45 AM appointment at court and we met their caseworker, guardian ad litem and our lawyer there. When it was our turn, we were told to sit at the table on the left, with our lawyer.

The kids and their guardian ad litem were told to sit at the table on the right. Their case worker sat behind them, in the first row of seats.

The first few minutes were spent going over names, dates, addresses, proof of termination of parental rights, etc. The judge asked us why we wanted to adopt, and specifically why we wanted to adopt these children. She also spoke to the three of the kids, asking them if they wanted to be adopted. My middle child (wearing the red shirt in the picture) wanted to legally change the spelling of her name and the judge took care of that when she legally changed their middle and last names.

Then the judge handed down her decision and made us a real family. When we were all finished, we gave flowers to their caseworker and guardian ad litem and took them out for lunch. Afterwards when they both went back to work, the five of us stopped by the place we had first met, eight months earlier, a peaceful little park off the Gulf of Mexico. We hung out for a while, talked and watched the men fishing. It was a beautiful, sunny day and we reminisced about how far we’ve come from that first day. While we were there, we took a picture in the exact same positions and in the exact same spot as the picture we took on that first day. Later on that evening, we went out to eat and took my mother, my aunt and cousin with us. It was very low key and relaxed after an exciting and hectic day.

That day will always be one of my most treasured memories.

We’re coming up on five years this October.