Maverick here…in Hong Kong…have a funny ear so no flying for a day or two…
Received this today from a very good friend…and I wanted to share with you…because sometimes we all forget the Important Things In Life and we need to be reminded!
MY ADOPTION
Some kids might say an XBox is their favorite gift, but for me it was my adoption.
I was born in Bulgaria, on February 28, 1999. At the orphanage I had nurses who took care of me and other kids every day. People were poor in Bulgaria and so was the orphanage. I did not always have enough to eat and I was told I would actually hide my food so I could either get more or so it would not be taken away from me.
In Chicago, John and Jane Doe were trying to adopt. They were told a little girl was available in Bulgaria, but two days later when they went to the lawyers office to sign the paperwork, the girl was already picked by another family. Jane started to cry but the lawyer said they had lots of other kids available and pulled out a book of pictures. When John and Jane started looking through the book it was too over whelming and Jane started to cry again saying she could not pick and asked the lawyer to pick for them. He chose a little boy, nine months old because he thought he looked like John. They screamed YES and signed the papers. That little boy was me!
Five months later they received a call telling them that it was time to go meet me in Bulgaria. Two trips would be needed, the first to meet me and decide and the second to pick me up. They left for Bulgaria on the 26th of February, and two planes later arrived in Sofia, the capital on the 27th. Then they had to take a third plane to Varna on the other side of Bulgaria. They wanted to be at the orphanage on the 28th to celebrate my first birthday. Cake and presents and new parents for my first birthday - wow! They were only allowed to see me for three hours a day so for a week I had lots of attention, new clothes, toys, diapers and food. After five days they left for the capital to meet with the Bulgarian lawyers and signed more papers.
Nine month’s later they were called and told to come get me. They were very excited as well as all their friends and family. This time it took two planes and a train to get to me and then an eight hour drive back to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. We spent a week together visiting Bulgaria and getting all my paperwork together. When we arrived in Chicago, fifty people were waiting for us at the airport, all wanting to meet me and we had a great big party.
If I had never been adopted I don’t know where I would be now. I would not have a family and a house and food and clothes of my own. I would not have parents that love me very much or my funny dad who always cheers me up or my mom that helps me with my homework or my cousins who I see often and celebrate every holiday with. Plus, I would not have the great friends that I have made.
Being adopted was the best gift I could ever receive.
Nothing else to say except that…the best things in life…are gifts you cannot measure in money.
Check Six,
The Maverick
