Two years ago today, about this time in fact, we were sitting in the USCIS Office. It was our first trip there. We had our original home study in hand and were waiting to be fingerprinted. We had written our first of many checks to the US Government for fees to be sure that our yet unknown daughter would be a citizen immediately upon her arrival in US airspace (provided that Ken and I both traveled to get her).
It was a very stressful day for our family in 2006 as we sat in that busy waiting room - infinite numbers of other languages were being spoken around us, attorneys were chattering with their clients, everyone was shuffling forms, people were signing in to wait their turn - some patiently, some not. Everyone had a different process to go through in the office, but we were all seeking the same goal - US Citizenship. We were silent observers in a very interesting scene. Some there were families also doing adoptions of a foreign born child. Others were married couples being interviewed in a lame attempt to prove that they were not just conning the government. Other people were there with parents or children trying to get paperwork in order so that they could remain in the States. Others were trying to show that they were in fact employed or attending classes as students.
The boys watched it all and came to some sense of appreciation for having been born here and not having to prove their identity, jump through a million bureaucratic hoops, and try to understand the process in a foreign language. We had lots of problems and snags with our own government to get the immigration paperwork done - and we didn't have a language barrier. Ken and I are both educated adults that ought to have been able to do this smoothly. We had researched the process carefully, and still, we got yanked around.
At the same time, on the other side of the world, a daughter that we did not know had just turned one. She had already experienced her cleft lip repair surgery and would soon be having her palate operation (April 2006). She still had a long wait for our arrival, and many hurdles to overcome in her short life. Bryant was only in the seventh grade that day. Alex was in the fifth grade. Neither one was as tall as their mother. Now, Bryant is a Freshman and stands at least 6'2 if not 6'3. Alex can look me square in the eye as a seventh grader. Elle is three and is a beautiful little girl who has melded well with our family - beyond our wildest dreams.
What an amazing journey!
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