Adoption - Unveiling Old Papers

 As I was emptying out my office (getting it ready for new paint and carpet), I was rifling through old papers to see what I could pitch or shred.  I found a lot of things that made me smile - old family pictures from forever ago, old school report cards and pictures, etc - lots of "keepers".

Within the stash, I found a manila envelope that had my Mom's distinctive writing on it.  I opened it to find even more treasures.  Folded neatly within was an old-school typed letter that, once read, I deduced my mother had written in the summer of 1971.  It was written five months after they adopted my brother.  It brought me to absolute tears - tears from euphoric happiness, empathy for her and my Dad's past heartaches, glee from the "knowing" the joy a new baby brings,  then the deep overwhelming love I felt all over again for my Mom, and the realization that she was so very youthful once - and not a mother yet.  

At the time of the "essay" (which I don't know if there was a purpose for writing it, more than just documenting her own feelings while experiencing the wonderment of motherhood), she was in her 20s - a young woman who sounded more wise than her years.  I'm sharing it because I feel it is so very special and, if the envelope it resides in is ever lose, I have a forever copy.  

We all have challenges to bear and mountains to climb in life.  Here's a very small insight into one of her and Dad's, from a new adoptive mother's point of view.

To close, growing up, I always felt special and loved beyond words.  My Mom used to tell us kids that it didn't matter that we weren't her biological children and that she thinks she loved us even more than she would have loved anyone... because she had to wait so long for each of us (Mom and Dad waited 2-3 years for my brother and waited another 5 years for me).   

I'm grateful that I found this priceless treasure, hidden amidst a myriad other things in a manila envelope, inside an old cardboard box.