On April 1, 2009, I posted a blog entry entitled "Bear With Us! As Soon as We Know, You'll Know! :-)" This time last year, we knew Rai's visa physical was complete and were waiting on one important piece of information to learn when we might leave: whether or not he needed a waiver. We knew Rai's prematurity (6 weeks early) and weight at birth (2 pounds, yes 2 pounds) would mean a delay in our travel call, but our fingers were crossed. Unfortunately, the unknown meant an influx of calls and emails to see if we heard. I have to admit, it was so frustrating to not have any news that I purposely didn't check my email or phone messages for days (unless there was something from Holt, of course). It also didn't help that the semester was ending, and I had about 20 versions of my course calendar to adapt to the possible travel dates and resulting changes in assignment deadlines and in-class/online preparation. For my students of Spring 2009, thank you for being patient with me! (In fact, I think they were just as anxious to find out my plans since an early travel call meant more online classes and a possibly extended deadline.)
The travel call did come, though, 20 days later, and within days, we were on a plane on Seoul, South Korea. It's amazing to think that our lives changed so significantly in the past year. Later this month, we will celebrate the one year anniversary of our new family. That being said, we will celebrate quietly as a family of 3 partially to respect any reactions Rai has as we continue to talk about our journey as a family. It certainly helps to be in contact with Rai's Omma (and Appa), but I know that the common reaction that "he's too young to remember" is not true.
To Omma and Appa, thank you for opening your hearts to us and to Rai (Yun-Taek). Thank you for all that you have done to bring us together.
To Rai's birth mother and father, thank you for giving Rai the gift of life. We will make sure Rai realizes that his story begins before his birth with many difficult choices and experiences.
To our family and friends, thank you for being supportive both during the stressful process and in our first year as a family.
I do have updated pictures to post, but it will be this weekend before I have time to upload and post them. Thank you for bearing with this busy mommy! Now back to my grading and conference preparation...
No comments:
Post a Comment