** Adoption countdown: 7 days until Pam, Terry and Matthew return home **
ZHENGZHOU, China (Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008, 6:30 a.m.) – Matthew continues to adjust well nearly two days after he joined our family and one day after our adoption became legal under Chinese law.
After playing for several hours on our hotel room bed with a horde of Matchbox-style cars (and talking feverishly in Mandarin I couldn’t understand), a tired Matthew went to bed around 10 p.m. Wednesday night.
I snuck out of the room for the hotel lobby and the Internet at a little after 6 p.m., and he was still sound asleep.
Matthew’s progress so far is in stark contrast to our daughter, Camryn, who had sleeping problems and wouldn’t even look at me for the first week we were together as a family.
In fact, Camryn didn’t warm up to me until after we arrived in Guangzhou to complete U.S. paperwork (which also can be lengthy and involved).
The first real test for Matthew will be Friday, Dec. 12, when we fly from Zhengzhou to Guangzhou, about a three-hour trip in the morning.
How will he handle the flight? His behavior might give us a clue of what we can expect during the 12-hour flight from Tokyo to Detroit on Thursday, Dec. 18.
Getting philosophical
As I looked at Pam in our room with Matthew cradled in her arms on the bed, you can’t help but wonder about the delicate nature of life and children – our most precious resource.
With the risk of sounding pompous, I believe we all are here for a reason. And what better one than to help preserve the future of our families, our world and our God than to raise, nurture, protect and educate our children?
I remember hearing former Mississippi Gov. Ray Mabus speak while he served in office and in the years since then. Gov. Mabus has long been a fervent, outspoken supporter of public education in Mississippi and nationwide.
The one thing I remember hearing Gov . Mabus say over and over and over, the one thing that has stayed with me throughout the years, was his passion for protecting our most important “natural resource” – our children.
He’s right. How much more vulnerable, defenseless and impressionable can a child be than Camryn was when we took her in our arms on that fateful afternoon of Monday, April 3, 2006?
Or how much more vulnerable, defenseless and impressionable can a child be than Matthew was when we held him in our arms for the first time on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2008?
We’ve met several U.S. families in Beijing and Zhengzhou who are doing the same thing we are. Many are here to adopt children with special needs: club feet, cleft palate, congenital heart disease.
Couple that with the love and support our son received from the Amazing Hands Children’s Home in Beijing and you can’t help but be moved by the commitment and dedication demonstrated by the Chinese people to give their children a “forever family” and a chance at a good life, something they might not otherwise have had.
Copyright 2008 by Terry R. Cassreino. All rights reserved.
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