Our "Sign"

Not everybody believes in "signs."  I am one of those people who wants to believe in them.  On April 7th, 2010, we received ours.  Our referral of M&B came with a sign.  We were crushed after Tamirat's death, and there were times when I felt like giving up on our adoption dream, especially if it was going to come with that much pain.  I have held off on sharing this news with the blog-o-sphere, but I think its time to share. 

We are a unique family in the sense of our adoption journey.  We were matched with a beautiful waiting baby, who passed away exactly 4 weeks later.  I believe Tamirat was the 13th child to die in WHFC's care in their Ethiopia program. 

On the day of our referral, we received more "unique' news (apparently there are only a handful of families that share this type of referral).  Our children have a biologic little sister, Little A, who came home with her family only 4 short months before M&B came home with us.  Our children have a little sister living here in the U.S.  We were told this on our referral call, and when pressed, they shared with us that she did live in Massachusetts.  However, that is all they would share.  We were told that after we passed court, they would offer her family our contact information.  To make a long story short, we were able to connect via phone and email the weekend before we left for Ethiopia.  We were also in the very unique situation in that another family had met the same birth family we were about to meet.  Another family had met our son, Muse, and had pictures to share with us. 

I can't describe what it has been like to be able to have our children connect.  They last saw Little A in August of 2009 before seeing her again this past July. They recognized her immediately (we did put pics of her in each of their bedrooms, and you should have seen the smiles on their faces when they saw her picture for the first time), but really weren't sure what to make of it.  I can't even begin to imagine what was going on in their heads...."she left us a year ago, so why is she here with us today?"  Muse smiled shyly at her, and after about an hour, Biskut took her by the hand and led her to the playground.  Their family is an extension of our family, and I know they feel the same way about us.  We have connected in a way I never knew was possible, a way that I would never have dreamed of when we started this process.  It truly is an incredible gift.  And this, was our "sign."  Our twist of fate.  The unexpected intervention of somebody bigger than any of us.  And, I can't even begin to tell you what our story means to their birth family. 

So here we are, 4.5 months after coming home.  We continue to meet with Little A and her family once monthly.  I can't help but to think that if it wasn't for loving and losing Tamirat, M&B wouldn't be in our lives, and would likely be separated by a thousand miles from their birth sister.  If it wasn't for Tamirat, we wouldn't have siblings, and would probably have received our referral a month or two ago for a toddler.  Our life is completely different than what we had planned from the start, but isn't it the way adoption journey's go?  The way it ends is very different than the way it starts.  You can say that again! 

This is one of my favorite pictures of the kids (I have many favs, however, I want to protect their privacy):