The Most Meaningful Thanksgiving of Our Lives
I love the holiday season and what it means for families to be together and share. At the end of every year I like to reminisce about the important things that I have accomplished as well as the enjoyable times spent together with my wife during the year. Last year, at this very same time things were a little different. I couldn’t concentrate on some of these things because we were in the final stages of adopting a little four year old girl from Kazakhstan. I remember that during the holiday season I found myself in somewhat of a daze because of our pending trip coming up in the beginning of January. I couldn’t sleep; I was scared and anxious all at the same time. I really didn’t know what to feel because I didn’t know exactly where we were going and there were so many unknowns.
We took off on January 14th and I can remember my wife saying to me on the plane that we hopefully will find ‘our little girl’. She was right, after all the paper work and the waiting and the expenses and running around we were finally on our way to find our child. All I kept thinking about was that somewhere halfway across the world a little girl was, hopefully, waiting for us. The following Monday we met the director of the orphanage. My wife kept starring at the door in the director’s office because she knew the child should was going to walk in at any moment. Then, through the door walked a beautiful brown eyed girl with her hair in pigtails. She sat down and said that her name was ‘Kamila’. My wife and I will never forget that moment when we first met her as long as we live.
Things were going fine every day. We got into the rhythm of spending time with her everyday, writing in our journal and exchanging each day’s events with each other and friends at the hotel. Then, our world was turned upside down. There were some problems with adopting Kamila. We couldn’t believe it. We sat in the hotel trying to figure out what we could do. But there was nothing that could be done. We couldn’t even say good bye to ‘Kamila’. We flew back to the United States in disbelief of what had happened to us. It was a very long and lonely flight home.
Alla contacted us immediately when we got home and explained that Adoption Ark would do everything in their power to try and change what had happened. My wife and I both had so many doubts, especially in dealing with a foreign government. We felt so helpless and so ashamed in coming back to work and to our families. Alla, kept calling us every few weeks to tell us of any progress that had been made in our case, but we couldn’t help but feel that it was over.
Spring had begun and I was very busy in the office. I came back to my desk and saw many emails, one of which was from Alla asking for us to call her. We did so and I couldn’t believe my ears. The problems with our adoption were resolved and we could come back and proceed with the rest of the adoption. We hopped on a plane and arrived back in the beginning of June for our court appearance. We were so anxious to see her again. It had been four grueling months since we saw her, but she came in with a big smile on her face! She was so happy to see us again. Everything went so smoothly after that. We will always remember standing in the court room with our regional coordinator, the orphanage director and the social worker all by our side. The Judge ruled in favor of the adoption and he smiled at us as we all broke down and hugged one another in excitement. It was official, she was ours! We came back in August to finally bring her home.
It has been three and a half months since we’ve been back with her and as the holidays approach my wife and I get more and more sentimental about our lives now and how this little girl has impacted us both. After fourteen years of marriage thinking we would never have children, we finally have a little one of our own; a girl who wakes up every morning with a smile on her face; a girl who is so full of life and love; a girl who has filled our home with so much happiness; a girl whose only wish was to have a family of her own.
This Thanksgiving we truly do have so much more to be thankful for. Knowing that our little girl is now part of our family, will make each holiday season even more meaningful and special to us. Thank you Adoption Ark, for making our dream come true.
The Very Warmest of Holidays!
Matthew, Jane and Kamila Casella
Monroe, New Jersey
11/21/2010