Happy Birthday to my Nephew, Aedan! I can’t believe that kid is already 12 years old! Where does the time go? Juli said he’s really had a growth spurt this year and he’s almost as tall as she is! We’ll see! He’ll be coming to Chicago in early November! Can’t wait to see the Hales!
This past weekend was rough. I was on cloud nine after Amy Eldridge sent the twins photo! I haven’t been able to stop looking at those little guys! I’ve already decided that they look like a little Professor and little Rascal! (Can you guess which is which?)
I wrote to Paul Duggan to give him an update. I was on cloud nine! I felt like I was surrounded by “signs.” Today, my Mom (who works at Standard Bank) sent me an e-mail with photos from one of her clients who recently returned from China with her new daughter (and THAT immediately brought tears of happiness to my eyes)! And…there are LADYBUGS on my office window!!! Are these signs? Who knows…but I am hopeful each and every day! It’s funny…anything these days can send me immediately into waterworks!
Paul sent me a text late in the day which read:
“Kristine,
Saw the pics. What a pair!!! Twins file is going to CCAA for placement. Should go to FTIA. Biggest issue is twins go to childless families. Trying to get it waived. Children are adults. Check your emails from Amy. Make sure u have answered all her questions. Is there anything missing? I am praying big time. Paul”
Ugh! I was happy to hear from him, but I was crushed, too. All of a sudden, I started to worry! I thought we might not have to worry because the children were categorized “Special Needs” because they were Preemies (possibly “developmentally delayed”) and they might not fall under the same rules as NSN, but now I was panicked! It was like the wind was suddenly let of out of my sales. I felt sick to my stomach. I didn’t want to lose hope, but I really worried about this. (And Michael knows if there’s one thing I’m really good at…it’s worrying!!)
The weekend was not good to me. I was very quiet at home. I didn’t feel like doing much of anything. I muddled through some chores. If Michael brought up anything at all about the twins, the adoption or if I had heard anything, my eyes immediately let loose with tears. (It was amazing…just say “twins” and it was like flipping a switch…"oh look, thar she blows!”)
Thank goodness we had tickets on Saturday night for a show at Moraine Valley Fine Arts Theater for the Second City Comedy Show that I bought months earlier. It was a nice distraction from all that was going through my mind. We had front row seats and the show was really good. Afterward, we went to a restaurant in Orland where there was a Neil Diamond impersonator. We caught the tail end of his performance and it was the most God-awful show I have ever seen. Poor Neil - - if he knew there was someone out there using his name, his image and his songs that was THIS awful, he would sue them! It was so bad it was funny! We stayed for a drink and a bad appetizer and we were home in an hour. Never again! (Considering I saw the REAL Neil Diamond with my Mom in July, there was simply no comparison!)
On Monday, I was back to feeling panicked about the whole situation again so I waffled back and forth about contacting Amy or Paul just to get some type of status update. Don’t forget, I still hadn’t been contacted by Amy - - one of her e-mails clearly said she wanted to speak with me so I had been expecting her call ever since then to learn more about the boys, the process and what to expect! Michael thought I should just contact Amy. I thought maybe I should try Paul since he was the Chairman of Board of LWB and he had direct access to Amy (and he was our “sponsor” with her), but then I thought better of it because of all the problems with the stock market (he’s in the Finance business and this isn’t a pretty time with the recession and all - - he’s probably getting a million calls from his investors). So…after composing several e-mails and then deleting them, I decided to get creative and contact FTIA instead. I thought maybe I would call Betty Betz and to see if she might give something up. At first, she wasn’t available, so I spoke with Maury. I checked in with her and she was sweet as always. I called back a bit later and asked for Betty. Since I sent in our Parent Workbooks and I hadn’t heard anything back from her, I’d go in with that (especially since Michael’s contained so many spelling errors - - I’d offer to resend). I also wanted to let her know that I sent in letters to our Senators regarding the renewals of the I-600A forms and our campaign to have extensions extended for those of us “grandfathered” in (rather than have to switch to the Hague – I-800A Form, which would be a completely new nightmare!).
We talked a bit about those things, had a few laughs and she didn’t have much else that she was sharing with me at that point. She finally asked if I had anything else for her. At that point, I took a big deep sigh and finally got the courage to ask her if she had received any e-mails from Amy Eldridge.
She exclaimed, “I was wondering if you knew about that!”
I was so relieved to hear her say that!! I said, “Me?! Yes, I’ve known! How long have you known?”
Oh - - it was so good to finally talk to her! This whole time, I just haven’t known if it was okay to talk to FTIA because I wasn’t sure what LWB’s protocol was, but the not knowing anything was taking such a toll on me! This was such a relief! Betty and I talked for quite a while. She confirmed that the boy’s names were Ming & Liang (which I had surmised based upon the file name on the photo). She said that one of the boys had a repaired hernia (which I had not previously known). She had not previously seen a photo. I was a bit hesitant in sharing it with her for fear of “jinxing” anything, but then again, I don’t believe in that and Betty is wonderful, so I sent it to her and she thought they were adorable! (She immediately picked out the “Professor” and the “Rascal!”) She asked if I had shared the photo with any else yet and I emphatically said, “NO!! I’m not ready! Not until I know they’re ours!” She said, “Well, geez…you didn’t even tell ME!!” I laughed and told her that I was REALLY good at keeping a secret!!
The sense of relief that I felt was like having a huge weight lifted off of my chest! It felt liberating! It really was only because I hadn’t spoken to Amy yet and I wasn’t sure if I SUPPOSED to mention anything to her yet! Thank heavens I could finally speak openly with my agency! Now that it’s out in the open, I just feel a lot better. I know that Betty will be a lot more accessible and if I have questions, I should be able to get some answers as quickly as Betty can get them. I just know that Amy is juggling so many things with running LWB that she is probably being pulled in a lot of different directions at once. Hopefully this will help lighten her load. Whew! Baby steps, baby steps…
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