Here's Hester

Today was a day of so many emotions; I cannot even begin to explain it all. The birth family signed the surrenders today. Hester is ours. Legally, we started our lives together today as a family. I was so joyful, I could have leaped over a building. But today was the day that the birth parents said good bye to their little girl. The sadness was overwhelming. Having spent the last week with the birth family in close quarters and very intimately, both Clementine and I were acutely aware that our dream coming true of having a daughter was because of another family's loss. That little girl is my heart and I feel such joy that she is now my daughter but it is tempered by the image burned in my mind of her birth mother and father as they passed her to me and left.

So many people celebrate this day each year with their child, calling it names like "Gotcha Day." It is common in adoption to mark this important day in the life of the adoptive family. But I do not feel this is a day for cakes and parties. It is much more somber.