I have thought about tackling other topics, but today, all I can think about is my sweet Luisa. Her birthday is today - she is 6. I think about her birthmother in Guatemala and wonder if she is thinking of her today - I’m sure she is. I wish I could let her know how well her daughter is doing. I also think about her first adoptive mom that could not keep parenting her, but who loves her deeply and misses her. Thankfully, I DO have the chance to let her know how Luisa is. Several other bloggers have mentioned that adoption can’t ONLY be sweet, can’t ONLY be happy - to have an adoption take place is to have loss. My joy is someone else’s sorrow - in this case, two mothers’ sorrow. There is always bitter with the sweet when it comes to adoption, but this child, for me, is nothing but sweet. She is honey for a mama’s heart. (This first picture is the day her adoption was finalized in August of 2005.)

Luisa came into our lives and our home a little less than two years ago. We were not looking to adopt, it had only been 7 months since we had gotten home from adopting 4 in Ethiopia and right then, I was in the middle of some really heavy-duty political lobbying work (completely unpaid but funded by dh, LOL). She just fell in our laps. She was in our home and in our hearts 9 days after I first heard she needed a home. She was frightened, did not speak English and had NO idea what was happening to her. She immediately enveloped with love by the other children in the family. “Come here, Luisa, let me show you my room”. “Come play dolls with me, Luisa”, “Don’t be sad, Luisa”. I did not see her for the first time until we were outside the judge’s chambers for her family to relinquish and for us to open an adoption file. When I did, my heart just did flips - she was SO cute and I wanted to be her mama SO much! She is my sweet girl that defied all the normal adoption “rules”. It did not take a long time, it was not an emotional roller coaster, she does not have any “extra” issues (just the normal adoption ones, LOL) and it did NOT take 4 years to have reciprocal attachment. All of the big scary behaviors she exhibited in her first home just melted away and she fit into our lives like she was always meant to be here. After having so many kids with so many issues, I am SO grateful for her blessing our lives. She is a breath of fresh air. I can’t wait to see where life takes her - and hopefully I’ll get to be along for the ride! (The second picture is just before Christmas, when she lost not one but two teeth the same day - her first ones!)