Monday, July 4, 2011

THE CALL


We got the long awaited call today (June 10, 2011)...we waited for exactly thirty-one and a half months.

As you know, we had been struggling with our emotions lately. We were afraid we'd be waiting until the end of the year before getting the call. There had been five referrals in the weeks leading up to June 10, and the wait was getting more and more difficult with each call.

I woke up around 9 that morning, and as usual checked my emails on my black.berry. That morning one of my fellow adoptive moms had written a post on Face.Book saying that she wished that her fellow adoptive moms (all of whom have been waiting for more than 30 months) would get the call today. I must admit that my heart lept a little at seeing that post, but I thought of course it's not going to happen today...I wrote back that I too wished that we would all get our calls really soon, and I ended my comment with "Ring telephone Ring!" I got up and decided to go and do some work in the garage, some messy, noisy sanding work. I decided to leave my phone in the house, because I was sure that it wasn't going to ring anyway, and I was tired of carrying it around for nothing. I was out in the garage for a few hours (can you imagine the dust from sanding for 3 hours!). I got to a point in my project where nothing was going right and I was getting more and more frustrated so I decided to come inside to see if I could get a better perspective on the project. When I went into my room, I saw that my phone was flashing, so I checked the display and there were 3 missed calls, from an unknown local number. The thing is if the call was from our resource person, her number is long distance from our house. I checked the messages and was surprised that there was a message from her. She said that she had a question for me, and that I should try to call back before 5 because she was going away for the weekend. I honestly thought that she was calling to ask us to update our file or something. I could not allow myself to think that this may be THE call. I came out of my room to get a pen and paper just as Eric (who was working from home that day) came out of the playroom/makeshift home office. I didn't want him to get his hopes up, so I went to our room to make the call...dialing the number as I went. He said that there had been some missed calls, that he couldn't get to because he was on conference calls with work, I said yeah, I'm returning one now...he asked who I was calling, just then, the line picked up, and I asked to speak to Marie*, His face kind of dropped, and I mouthed to him, it's not about that! When Marie came on the line, she said hi and asked how I was doing, I said fine and you? She said she was doing well and enjoying the weather...it's a beautiful day isn't it? (At this point, I was getting frustrated and thinking just get to the point, tell me what update I need to do, or whatever it is that you're calling to tell me). Then she asked me the question that she had called to ask...She asked me "Do you think today is a good day to become a mother?" I burst into tears! I heard Eric breathe for the first time since I had said that I was calling Marie. I somehow managed to put the phone on speaker and we listened as Marie told us that we had a son named Nicolas!

She told us that we have a son, named Nicolas! He is almost 2 years old (his birthday is July 2, 2009). He is living in Cebu with a foster family who he has been with for the past 2 years. She then asked if we would be able to go to pick up our proposal at the agency before 4pm. We said yes, of course! We hung up the phone, and hugged and cried. We then got ready and headed over to the agency.

When we got to the agency we were given an envelope with all of Nicolas' information, we read his file and saw his beautiful face for the first time! I think his is the most beautiful picture I have ever seen.

We left the agency and thought to ourselves...now what?! How and when do we tell our family and friends? (I'm still working on that post...)

We are so thrilled to be Nicolas' parents...we can't wait to meet him...these days life is a blur, we both feel like we're walking on the clouds, or through a dense very very happy fog!
*Marie (not her real name)

4 comments:

Bubbis said...

Ahhhh the post(s) I've been waiting for! What an awesome story that you will hold dear for the rest of your life. And I LOVE the storybook idea...that was great! I think it's so amazing how God has the whole "story" worked out for us...You & Eric BOTH home and even being able to use hockey as an excuse to have guests over! Awesome. I also giggled when I saw snoopy at the end of the post...When I see snoopy I think Philippines, he's quite popular over there..very appropriate. Enjoy all the preparations. Jess :-))))

Melanie said...

Tammy, you made me cry with your post... So many memories are coming back to me, both for my oldest and my youngest (even though it's pretty recent with my youngest). Enjoy this time, you will soon meet your little man :-)) So exciting!!! -Melanie

Renee and Brian said...

THE CALL!!!! I always love hearing about when and how people got "their calls". It is just one of the most amazing moments especially after waiting soooo long. We didn't get a call but rather an e-mail since we were on vacation but it was amazing nonetheless!!! I'm still sooo happy for you guys. Can't wait until you finally get news to go pick him up.

Jenny said...

Congratulations! Finally! Just reading your post brought back so many memories of "The Call". This call is just the beginning of so many more memories to be made. Good times ahead! :)