A Day to Celebrate!

This day, this time, six years ago, I was distraught. Referrals had come for other families logged in at the same time as our family. A week had passed, and still we did not have a referral for our precious girl. It was nearly 6:00 in the evening on a Friday, and our family of four was getting ready to go out for dinner, when the phone rang. When I checked the caller ID, I almost didn't answer it, because I didn't recognize the name. I was glad I did!

I heard the voice of our social worker, "Robbie....," and I knew!!!!!!!!!! She had news of our daughter. Her name was Gao Jie Lun, her birthday was November 22nd, and she was living at the Gaoming Social Welfare Insitute. I remember my voice quivering when I realized her birthday was the following day. Stan was downstairs, and he could tell by my tone that I was finally answering THE CALL.

We were a little late to meet our friends for dinner. We began making phone calls, and continued on the way to Jesup, both Stan's and my cell phones busy all the way. Once, I realized Stan was calling my best friend's husband, and I nearly yelled, "Oh, no you're not," I'm going to tell Melanie. So, I had two cell phones in my hands. All of you adoptive moms our there, you know the excitement of that moment. And, if you're like me, you close your eyes and it takes you back to the joy and peace of that day.

We had to wait until the weekend was over to see her photo, for the stork, aka UPS to deliver that priceless package.


Look at that face! Can you imagine how desperately I wanted to hold her, to love her, to make her smile.

And, just look at her now.


Happy, healthy, and full of compassion.


She spent that first birthday in an orphanage, where it is likely no one thought to say, "Happy Birthday." But, she has never spent another birthday without a celebration.

And, this year, we had an awesome party. Her birthday party was today, while her birthday is tomorrow. Josie-Tatum wanted a Chinese themed party, and we all had a wonderful time. Each of the girls was allowed to put on a Mandarin outfit for a photo op, we made Year of the OX photoframes, bracelets with Chinese character charms, and sun catchers. The nine girls were working so seriously that they hardly talked. It was funny! They enjoyed green tea in the tea sets we brought back from China. We made memories!!!

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