Last night, I had a wonderful dream! I dreamt that D&I finally got Z. There was a lady who worked at a house that sort of doubled as day-care/school and orphanage, but it was a bit nicer than you would expect of such a place in Crescent Moon. I had been explaining to her several of the obstacles we had encountered and she sympathized with me and we were talking about how the system itself is in need of some improvement. As we were talking about ways we felt would improve the system, I expressed special sorrow for those orphans who have heart problems who need medical help ASAP. (Is advocacy in my future? Perhaps...) She also showed me around the facilities and she had long cords that resembled the old coil telephone cords, but much longer. She said that she would knot these up a special way and then paint the child's name on them in various colors so that when it was unknotted, it would simply have a unique color pattern that had a deeper meaning than it appeared to the untrained eye. She explained that she started doing this for each child when they got their first baths in the facility because they were often scared and having such a special thing to look at that was uniquely theirs really brought them comfort. After that bath, the coils would be unknotted and then hung over their bed to identify it in a subtle way. I guess it doesn't sound very special when I write it out, but in the dream it was the coolest, sweetest idea I had heard in a long time! She had even made some for DJ, L, & N for me since I told her how much I loved the idea. She really was such a sweet lady!!
After showing me around and talking for a long while, she told me that it was time to go meet Z. She had been in kindergarten and the class would be getting over any minute, so we headed over there. Several kids filed out of the room and I could feel my anticipation mounting. At last, I saw Z slowly come out of the room. I noticed that her eyes seemed very bright. They were beautiful big brown eyes. She seemed like she had some difficulty seeing well, but she could clearly see some. The lady who I had been with went and took her by the hand which really reassured Z. She led Z up some stairs to where I was and she introduced me, but didn't tell her yet that I was adopting her. I remember her politely shaking my hand with her left hand instead of her right. Not surprisingly, she melted my heart almost instantly. The lady, Z, & I went over to a quiet area and just talked. The lady was asking her about her day and Z's comfort level seemed to indicate that this was a daily routine for them. I was amazed that Z seemed to know quite a bit of English and spoke it perfectly. After a while, the lady somehow introduced the concept of "mom" into the conversation. Z got a little sad and looked away with her head down because it was a foreign concept to her, but one she knew she wanted. The lady told her that I had come here to be her mom from now on. Z's face brightened up and she looked at me with anticipation and said, "Mom?" That was the moment my heart became a puddle of goo....
I took the lady aside the next time I got an opportunity and told her that as much as I loved Z and getting to be a part of her life, I was worried that I was violating some laws because we had not yet submitted our I-800, which is the petition for Z to be found eligible to be adopted. She explained that it wasn't really a vital part of the process, but that it's more of a "strong suggestion". She said that there was another thing we could do instead. (I can't remember what, but it somehow involved Jamaica) She said we could have 14 days to get that completed, which should be plenty of time. Then, after that 14 days, we would not have to worry about the adoption falling apart any longer.
The next thing in my dream, Z & I were walking hand-in-hand along with D through various situations - church, a walk, playground, meeting new people, etc. She had a blue box/car that seemed very precious to her that she sometimes wanted to be in, but sometimes she was content to just have it near her. We were so busy just enjoying the special time that we weren't taking many pictures and I remember feeling really bad that we hadn't taken enough pictures of her old life so that she could see them when she got older if she wanted to know more about this time of her life. She was amazingly open with D & me, but very shy around new people. Often people that we knew, especially those who prayed for & followed along on our adoption journey, would be so excited to finally meet her that they would approach her a bit too quickly or touch her shoulder or something innocent for them, but a bit much for her. I remember telling her that these were friends who just didn't understand that they made her feel uncomfortable and that they only meant to make her feel welcome and loved. She seemed much better after I explained that. In particular, I remember introducing her to "Mr. Cooper". Oddly enough, I don't remember ever introducing DJ, L, or N to her. Perhaps we were waiting until after the 14 days was over so we didn't have to take their new sister away from them.
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