Right about now (9 p.m. on the 16th), it is mid-morning in China, on our baby’s first birthday. I have so many emotions thinking about her special day. I wonder if she has loving caregivers who will celebrate her today. I wonder if she will get to have a first bite of cake. I wonder what big milestones I have already missed in this first year of her life. And I wonder if there is a mother across the globe who is mourning her loss, thinking about the child that for some reason she had to abandon one year ago.
Most of all, I wonder what this day will feel like a year from now. I’m excited to think about our family celebrating all together. I imagine that by this time next year it will be hard to remember a time before she joined our family. That is an encouraging thought for me right now when sometimes the wait seems endless.
I want her to know someday that although we weren’t there for her first year, her first birthday; we were already loving her, and longing for the day that she would be with us.
This is the first care package that we sent. It had a blanket, an outfit, a pair of shamrock pajamas for our St. Patrick’s Day girl, a rattle, a toy phone that we recorded a message on, a hat, some chocolates for her nannies, some disposable cameras for the nannies to take pictures of her, and a photo album with pictures of our family. I have no guarantee that she will get this package, but I hope so!