Bringing the good news from London to Leicester. Adoption Day.

I don’t remember much about the journey home to Leicester with the good news about Jah’s official Adoption.

We knew that the children were all waiting anxiously. I don’t know which adult was staying with them – or probably Lucy was quite old enough, so she would have been in charge.

Naturally I shall never forget the children’s reactions.

Jah greeted us with big wide eyes. He looked almost ‘white’ with anxiety, even though we had telephoned them with the good news. Perhaps he needed to hear it from us directly. Instantly his eyes regained their sparkle and he looked immensely relieved and happy. So did Sam, Lucy and Anna.

I was touched by Lucy’s gift to Jah. Many months previously, she had decided to embroider a new shoe bag for him to take to school, complete with his official name – the same family name as all of us. It had been waiting in a drawer for many months until this important day. He cherished that present and used it with great pride for a long time. Amazingly I still have it. The felt of the little footprints has shrunk slightly, but can still be seen quite clearly.

I have no photos of the whole family celebrating, but the following picture conveys the atmosphere in our household on that important Adoption Day. Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net (cropped)

Notionally this could be Sam, Jah, Lucy and Anna.

 These reflections will continue. Adoption Day was obviously a significant new beginning, but in another sense it was a continuation. We had been committed to Jah as our adopted son ever since he joined the family just before his fourth birthday.  As with all adoptive parents, it is a commitment for life.