It’s miraculous to think what change a year’s time can bring us. Last year on this day, my husband and I were nervously cleaning and decorating in anticipation of our final home study visit. When the social worker left we knew we were approved and we were on top of the world as we attended a local ethnic festival at which my in-laws always have a Swedish craft booth. Thor & I grinned like idiots at every customer and passer by and our delight that we were one step closer to starting our family. I distinctly remember walking along the train in the museum, smelling all the different ethnic foods that night, holding hands, and dreaming about what our child and our adoption would be like. When I think of that day, even now it makes me smile.

2006 brought us ups and downs we couldn’t have imagined, unbearable anguish, and unexpected joys. I can’t count the nights we sat at a little corner booth at Valentino’s scarfing down pizza and analyzing each and every sentence in our dear birthmother letter. We carefully thought through every adoption decision, read shelves of books, and painstakingly designed our now famed website. It even seems like it was forever ago that we anxiously boarded an airplane to San Francisco to attend a sonogram for a baby that would never be ours. In fact, despite all our hard work and dreams the year brought us stress that would test our marriage, our friendships, and our finances. That is unfortunately the nature of adoption. While so many around us perceived our choice as easy or convenient they could not know how we fought through it all and still found a way to support each other in our dreams, and to work toward our goal of having a family. And as adoption often does, our journey took an unexpected twist, an 8 lb. 10 oz. twist. Right here in our home state, just a week after our first call from his birthmother, we drove our son Jacob home from the hospital. Ever since our lives have been filled with change and we are again filled with joy.

This year we nervously cleaned and decorated our home for the holidays in anticipation of the first visit from our son’s birthmother. When she left we remarked at how wonderful open adoption is and how truly lucky we are to have her, and our son, in our lives. At our local festival we were once again grinning like idiots, this time showing off our beautiful boy to every passer by. As I walked again along the train holding hands with my husband, our infant son smiling widely at us both, I smiled and dreamed about what the next year will bring and I can’t help but smile. It is truly remarkable what change a year can bring.