Three years can go by in a blink of an eye if you're not careful. We had a joke about trying to do the "bucket list" of Key West before the move. There were many things not crossed off....left undone. Over a year of our time was spent dealing with Louisiana, trying to get Madison to us. I spent many days at home, waiting patiently for the phone to ring, from all the social service people that said, " We'll call you tomorrow." Tomorrow turned into days, weeks, months, etc. Dennis had to hear my frustrations while he went off to work. But it finally paid off.At least we were able to share Key West when Madison finally arrived. Thank goodness we took so many pictures. She'll probably lose the memories as she grows older of the place we became a family. As we came down to the last few days in Key West....thinking there was nooooo way we were going to be able to pull off getting Madison adopted and would have to continue the nightmare of dealing with social services in Virginia......a judge stepped up to the plate and said we could do the adoption proceedings by phone, but not until we were already in Orlando. But as everyone likes to say.....we were in the most magical place of all when Madison became "officially" our daughter.
On June 17th...at 11:00am we sat in our hotel room waiting on the phone call that made us cry. A judge talked with us and even with Madi to make sure this is exactly what we wanted. Dennis and I had tears streaming down our faces....and Madison soon came to understand that sometimes people can cry because they are so happy. Maybe because she heard it so many times from us, or maybe because in some small way she actually understood it...Madison said, "You're crying because I'm officially your daughter??"
Yes Madi we are!
The sign in Key West that says thanks for visiting...come back soon! Maybe someday we can take Madi back to what we will always call our first home.
The sign in Key West that says thanks for visiting...come back soon! Maybe someday we can take Madi back to what we will always call our first home.
