Stahlke Adoption

Two Years

On September 23, 2008, Jonathan and I stood before the judge in Kirovohrad when he pronounced that Kola was now our son. I'd still like to write more about that day from the notes I took after our appointment. But I don't have time today to give that topic justice.

Since brother David is away at camp, the family will fête Kola tomorrow. To mark the actual day, however, I drove Kola to Burger King after school. An outing alone with Mom is a rare event in our house, and he relished it. I brought the reading coupon he had earned at the library last summer, and he redeemed it for a free order of french fries. Adding some drinks and a milkshake completed our celebratory menu.

We shared thoughts about Ukraine, childhood nightmares, and photos of plants. He lingered over his milkshake, drawing out every possible moment of our time together. His tantrum/rage the previous night about the unknown("I DON'T WANT MY ANNIVERSARY!!") gave way to the pleasant surprise that such events are actually pretty nice!

posted by Stahlkes @ 1:14 PM