September 17, 2012. Francis’ seventh birthday and the day of the entrustment
ceremony. On this day, we would finally
be a family.
Note: The italicized portions of this blog were
originally published on September 17, 2012 in this post.
Today was the first day my parents met Francis. The
four of us and Rolly, our agency liaison, were picked up by a driver, who came
with the director of the RSCC. When we arrived at the center, Francis was
outside waiting for us and would have opened the van door himself, if he could
have! For the second day in a row, Daddy got ambushed with a huge hug, while
Mommy had to wait for him to warm up a bit. He recognized Lolo and Lola
right away, and even they got hugs.
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Ambushing Daddy as the van pulled up.
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The center had a beautiful entrustment ceremony, with the
director, social worker, nurse, and Francis' primary caregiver each speaking
for a bit. We were then presented with Francis' lifebook, preschool
diploma, photographs, and a beautiful 8x10 of his referral photo with the poem
"Legacy of an Adopted Child" imprinted on it. We were asked to
read the poem aloud, which Gregg had to do, because as soon as I saw the first
two lines I was a sobbing mess. We were then asked to say a few words,
and again Gregg had to start (still sobbing!). We could not thank them enough.
Finally, my parents and Rolly were asked to say something, and we took
some pictures.
Francis was a little tornado the entire
duration of the entrustment ceremony. He
was in my arms, he was down. He was next
to me, he was running across the room.
The one thing he would not do was stand still. He wanted absolutely no part of this solemn
occasion. After all, there was cake to
eat.
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| The entrustment ceremony. |
And then we had cake! Today was Francis' 7th birthday,
and what a day to celebrate! When we found out we would be in time for
his birthday (at the time not realizing the entrustment would be ON his
birthday), we asked to have a party for Francis – whatever he wanted. He
picked out his favorite foods: Jollibee’s spaghetti, pancit, spicy
chicken, übe ice cream, and best of all, a Spider-Man cake! The room was
decorated with balloons that said "Happy 7th Birthday, Francis, September
17th, 2012" and "Love, Mommy and Daddy"
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| Francis' birthday/farewell party. |
When it was time to leave, Francis was ready to go. He
was out the door before the rest of us could say goodbye and get our shoes on.
I looked outside in the rain and said "Where's Francis?!" in
the van, ready to go already.
To this day, Gregg and I tell this
story fondly and joke about what horrible parents we must have appeared to be
to the staff of the RSCC. One minute he
was with us, and we stopped to say goodbye to Mama La, who was with the rest of
the children in the sleeping area, and when we turned around from saying
goodbye – no Francis. He was ready to
go. He was done with RSCC and wanted
out. Now. No time for goodbye for him.
He sat quietly on the way to the hotel, first on
Gregg's lap, then mine. When we got to the hotel, he was ready to go.
We have a connecting room to my parents, so he had cartoons (the same
one) on both TVs, playing with a ball, checking out the digital camera, and
discovering that he LOVES to be tickled. My son has the most contagious
laugh you will ever hear, and his smile lights a room. After a day or two
of just wanting daddy, he is coming to me more and looking to sit on my lap and
cuddle and be picked up.
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The ride home.
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At one point this afternoon, we went to call Rolly to
discuss dinner plans but there was a problem with the phone. Gregg was
just going to go down to his room, but Francis refused to let him leave.
I tried to go instead, but the same thing happened. In the end, all
three of us had to go.
By the time dinner rolled around, Francis was practically
falling asleep on the table, but he ate some spaghetti and lit up like a
Christmas tree when his second birthday cake came out. Here we are now,
all cuddled up, and I'm the last one to go to bed. I'm thinking I might
want to do that now, though, because apparently he gets up at 4 am.
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| Happy birthday, Francis! |
Before bedtime, I read Wherever
You Are, My Love Will Find You to Francis.
Barely. I was choked up and
crying by end of page one. We got
through it, and he tucked his stuffed Pooh Bear and McQueen under the Pooh
blanket I had sewn for him, then spread the rest of the blanket over
himself. For the first time, he fell
asleep between his new mommy and daddy, and his new mommy and daddy just stared
in wonder at this amazing gift from God.
To Be Continued…
