Day 22: Mariupol

Dearest Alex,

We are still so excited about yesterday. I think we are really getting to appreciate how great it all went. Yesterday I think we were still so traumatized about the problems that arose that we were almost scared to be happy. Having survived such a near miss, it still felt like we were waiting for the other shoe to fall so to speak. But the emotional trauma must have taken its toll because we all slept like the dead and awoke feeling happy and refreshed.

G3 and I are so excited about having you as our son. We think you will fit in perfectly and that you will be happy. Even though there might be times when you wish “evil homeschooling mom” wouldn’t make you do so much work, overall I think everything is going to work out great.

We checked out of the hotel this morning and went to another apartment. Sasha (our driver - not the facilitator) had his wife’s car this morning and it is a great deal smaller than his car. So we had to take two trips to the apartment, one for the bags and one for us. Then we remembered that you had asked for some paper so we stopped and got you some. I will digress here for a moment for the benefit of other readers. The kids at the orphanage, or at least some of them, can craft amazing sculptures out of paper. Alex had asked for some paper the first week we were with him but I misunderstood and thought he wanted lined paper for writing. Then we got caught up in paperwork and adoption things and then off to London. My first failure to you as a parent I guess Alex. Get used to it - I am only human after all.

But in an attempt to redeem myself, I remembered the paper and we stopped and got some today. G3 also got some snacks for everyone to share and extras so you could give them to friends. But by the time we got to the orphanage it was about 12:15. Sasha called us and said it was too late to visit and we wouldn’t have long to stay. He didn’t elaborate so maybe there was some official function that the kids were going to later on, but we were a little disappointed. We wanted to spend more time with you. Boo Hoo! We wished we could have gotten things done with the hotel and apartment quicker, but there was only so fast we could do it.

So, we only got about an hour and a half at the orphanage and in an exciting change for most of that time, the Radzinski’s were there with their kids, Sergei and Max. Since Sergei and you are friends and wanted to be together, Amanda, G3 and I joined in the fun with everyone else and watched you hang out together. We understand that it must be hard for you to be contemplating giving up all that is familiar, even though you want to, it still must be slightly scary. As we watched you though, you seemed so happy and unaffected by all the turmoil and emotions that have been swirling around you. But also you seemed lighter today - as if a huge weight had been lifted off your shoulders. I think G3 and I felt like that too. I know you were always worried that we would change our minds or that something would interfere with the adoption and I think we were too. (Ok - not that we would change our minds - we knew we wanted you too much - but that some paperwork issue would prevent it.) But now that you are officially ours - nobody can take you away. It is a done deal and no need to worry! I think we all felt like a weight was lifted because of that.

While we were visiting with everyone, little Max was called to go to sleep. Becky was sad as it seemed like there was too little time to visit with him. But then I remembered a deck of Uno cards that I had in my purse. I brought them out and we all played Uno together. It seems like Uno is a game that most kids over here know. I got the idea from reading other adoption blogs and it was a big hit. One warning to other parents though - these kids are cheaters. You all were hiding cards, trading them between yourselves, and generally trying to win by any means. We caught on pretty fast and tried to put an end to it to general hilarity. We had a lot of fun with Becky and Kevin and you and Sergei - only bad thing was that little Max wasn’t there.

All too soon we had to go - yuck - it seems like we shouldn’t have to say goodbye anymore. And it doesn’t seem fair that you can’t be with us. I really want you with us - you are ours now and we need to start the process of integrating you into our family. What better way to do it than here in your country where you are familiar with your surroundings. The apartment we are in is plenty big, there is room for you. And even if it is just boring time here together, at least it is a start. We have missed out on 14 years together and we don’t have that much time before you are an adult and want your own life. Watching you today made me a little sad when I realized that I am going to have to compress all of the childhood experiences I want you to have into about 5 or so years. But don’t think that just because I am moaning about this that you get rid of us at 18 or 19. You are part of this family forever - we will stick to you like fly paper. I want to be by your side for everything you do. Why do you think I named my company Sticky Tape Press? G4 and Amanda can tell you G3 and I stick like crazy glue! In fact that is where the name of the company came from - G4 accused me one day of being a sticky tape parent!

As you can tell, I am so anxious to start bonding with you. I am so proud of how you are doing with your English. You are really applying yourself and it shows. I was so surprised today with how you were doing. You were understanding us really well and even answered back with a few short sentences. I think you will be speaking English in no time.

Anyway, we left you (Boo Hoo again) and came back to our apartment. We had some problems with the wifi card so G3 walked over to a MTC store to get it straightened out. He also got some food and we spent the rest of the night resting and talking about you and how much we love you and can’t wait to finally be with you all the time!

Love Always,

Bethany, G3, G4, & Amanda