Meeting the REAL Lucy

Last night we were blessed with a rare opportunity in the international adoption world. We were able to have a video call with our newest daughter. Typically contact or communication between adoptive parents and their waiting children is extremely limited (if it happens at all) and mostly one-way. The best parents usually get (and what we got during our wait to get Alice) are a few new photographs of the child and some very basic information, like current measurements, favorite food and color. We felt especially fortunate that we had a video of Alice taken by our adoption agency during a visit to her orphanage. It played a large role in our ability to "picture" Alice - her movement, her speech, her behavior, etc. in a more 3-D manner than still photos and words. I have to say that when we met her that day in the orphanage, Alice was very close to the child we imagined we would be meeting.

Up until last night our mental image of Lucy has been limited to 2 dimensional media - photos and words. We've had more photos and first-hand descriptions of Lucy than is typical, but it still left lots of room for interpretation. Last night we met the REAL Lucy and we love her. She is not exactly the Lucy we imagined. There are degrees of difference in our expectations of how her CP would be similar or different from Alice's. But those are so minor compared to the glowing smile, the happy disposition and the overall willingness on her part to become our daughter. We are thrilled that this ray of sunshine will be joining us soon and adding to our joy.