She knows I wished for her

March 28th. We don’t throw a party. With 3 of the 4 children with birthdays in March, the decision about that came easy. But, even if the day we received her fell in a month all its own, we wouldn’t hang streamers and make a whole lot of noise. It’s a special day. We talk about it. We give some extra hugs that day. And, we always have Chinese food just because. Maybe we give her a little something just to say I love you—this year, a personalized book and a little handmade horse from her birth place.

Maybe this March 28th was just like others for our little girl. No revelations, no epiphanies, no new questions she hasn’t asked before. It was dimples and playing as usual. But, it was different for me this year because I was just there. I just walked the same path we walked as my heart beat fast crossing a busy street to the Civil Affairs Office where we’d meet her. I heard the same morning noises as various music played in the park while people performed their morning exercises, competing against the honking of car horns for attention. I rode the same elevator we rode when we first brought our baby back to our room. I even had the hotel open the same room where we stayed four years ago so that I could see it again and take pictures and remember that feeling when we opened the door and saw a little crib in there by our bed.

Experiencing all of that again made me long even more to tell her how she’s our wish come true, how years of holding tightly to the dream of her like I was clinging to the string of a balloon all made sense when we met her on March 28th, 2010.

‘A long time ago,’ said Mama to Lydia, ‘a wish started growing in my heart. At first, it was a quiet wish that nobody knew. Then it became an out-loud wish that grew and grew and grew. Until one day, my wish came true.’

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If you are interested in making your own personalized adoption book of I Wish For You from Put Me in the Story, use the discount code WISH20 to get you 20% off until May 2. There’s something about seeing your name in print that makes going through your story on a 5-year-old level really fun.