Happy Adoption Day Kyle & Owen!

 

(view out the windows from the Hotel Montana ~ January 31, 2005)

 

Our 6th Adoption Day ~ January 31, 2011

Dear Kyle and Owen,

Six years ago today we were with you in a hotel room in Haiti, spending our first night together as a family of four. You were tiny little babies, and you looked like this:

The Hotel Montana was a strange, complex place in so many ways – and it was, as well, a gorgeous oasis of a hotel in so many ways. I still grieve that it – such a very special place for us – is gone. I remember looking through the hotel windows, out at the views of Port au Prince, and letting my mind wander to a place that I hadn’t let it go prior to holding you two for the first time. But I was a Mama now, and I could let myself think it: ‘What would become of these two precious souls, who had roots in this island, but who were now my very own sons?’ Never could I have imagined that just a few short weeks later you’d look like this:

And even then, in my mind’s eye, I couldn’t have pictured you as the gorgeous, self-confident, stunning, show-stopping boys that you are today:

You are an amazing mix of so many things, you two. The good and the bad, the gifts and the flaws, the strengths and the weaknesses, the mind-boggling-amazing and the mind-boggling-awful, the sugar and the spice, I love it all. I love it all, I embrace it all, I feel the weight of it all, and I feel the light of it all. And while you are truly challenging to parent (your double-willfulness alone – let alone your double-bottomless-energy – is enough to drive your mama to the brink), the double-joy of you truly flies above all the many hurdles. Your story is so profound already, and –hopefully— we have only just begun on this journey that we’re on with you. Despite what hurdles are surely laid out along our path, the hope far outweighs the trepidation. And so, as I did six years ago, I continue to wonder: ‘What will become of you precious two?’ And I just marvel at how easy it has been for us to give you all that we have, and I marvel too at all the possibilities.

Happy 6th Adoption Day Kyle & Owen! You are the two best things that we ever did with our lives. And you’ve made us happier, richer, and more full-of-life than you could possibly ever imagine! Thank you for adopting us.

Love, your Mama & Papi