Many Thanks

Wow, what a truly fantastic weekend we had with Mikhael and his family in Louisiana. I cannot put into words what it was like to wrap my arms around Mikhael for the first time and to feel him hug me back. Hard. To hear him talk and laugh and see him smile. I didn't want to overwhelm him, but by the end of the trip, I was just hugging on him on a regular basis and told him I had to get them in while I could. Thankfully, he obliged me.

We want to thank Cyndi & Darrel for making our stay SO entirely comfortable. The food & hospitality was so wonderful. It was really nice to reminisce with Cyndi. She & I shared a very remarkable experience and we each remembered things the other had forgotten, and shared things that the other didn't know. To remember Mikhael as a newborn and the week I got to spend with him & his parents, and to see him again - now at 17, almost 18 - was a very surreal experience, and one I will be grateful for a long time.

I also want to thank Greg very much for helping make this weekend happen. He was willing to go to a new place and meet new people, including my "firstborn child" as he called Mikhael, and share our daughter together with him. Greg said he wanted Claira to get to know her big brother and that they should have a relationship if they want it. He was very sweet & understanding and would ask me how I was feeling throughout the weekend. When Mikhael introduced us to his girlfriend, Ashley, he introduced me as his mom Debbie, Claira as his sister, and Greg as his dad. He even referred to Greg as "Dad" several times. Talk about a "blended" family!

I am grateful that Mikhael wanted to meet me and get to know me. He is SUCH a good kid. He has such a big heart and a good soul. He has a terrific sense of humor, is so loving & affectionate, and on some level, it was as if we simply picked up where we left off. In some ways, it did not feel like 18 years have come & gone. Because Cyndi kept me updated with pictures and letters, I was able to get to know Mikhael. And now Mikhael wants to get to know me. Of all the good things in my life, this is right up there in the top.

Lastly, I want to thank God. He gave me the strength to give Mikhael to someone else to raise. He assured me in so many ways that I could trust Him in guiding me to the parents who would raise my son in a loving home with the knowledge of God. That I was included in any way, is as Cyndi says, "a God Thing," and there is no other way to explain it.

It's all good.