2006 in review

By all accounts, 2006 was the end of many a journey and just the beginning of some others. Here's the recap:

We left our desire, our need, our interest in giving birth, officially behind.

We started our journey to Magpie, having no idea really how long it would end up being and how much it would change our lives.

I decided one day, after my boss started harrassing me, to let it go and move on. The sweet satisfaction is I interviewed with just one company within days. If you can't beat em,... you don't have to join em, just rise above and move on, a great lesson to learn.

We moved from MD to CT, both of us returning to our roots so to speak.

We realized who 'got it' and who might never 'get it', with regard to adoption, Sophia, and anything else that really mattered to our hearts and soul. We feel sorry for those who currently don't get it, and might not ever.

I found a job, where after a long break over the holidays, I actually enjoyed, rather than dreaded, returning to work. Amazing, forgot it could be this way.

I entered blog land, and for now I'll stay.

I joined some DTC traditional groups online, surfed through many an adoption 'group/forum' and never really felt like I belonged to any of them until the most recent one.

We were linked up with a wonderful Secret Pal who allows us to cherish the journey we're on.

We spent the first of many a very difficult Mother's & Father's Days, knowing the depth to which we love our daughter Sophia. Knowing too, that motherhood and fatherhood is NOT, I repeat, NOT, defined by the your childrens hearts that still beat.

We announced our adoption to mixed, though no public negative, reactions.

We experienced the incredible glee that comes from a person, a family, and their sheer excitement over our adoption. What a HIGH. What a rush.

We moved into a home that still doesn't feel like home yet, but we hope we'll be here for many years. We hope to be here long enough to pay the mortgage off... may it be Magpie's legacy one day.

We made new friends through online contacts, and enriched friendships that I never really realized how amazing they were before. We are rich with support and love.

We learned the power of feeling like we belonged, I mean REALLY belonged when placed in certain situations...

We were 'educated' over and over again that although adoption and giving birth are all about creating a family, being pregnant and adopting are NOT the same. No matter how much we wish they were, they simply are not. Unfortunately, we know this too well and it saddens us. The difference in treatment can be revolting, sad and un-nerving at times. There is however nothing we can do.

we learned the peace that comes from sleeping with your windows open and the blinds open, never to hear the hustle of the suburbs or the light from the neighbors and streets.

We learned the power of combining our strength, of rising above.

we learned that sometimes, no matter how much you want things to be different, you have to let go of a dream, whether that dream be a person, place or thing, whether it be family or friend. Sometimes, dreams will only ever exist in your head.

We learned even more about the big picture of life.

We said goodbye to too many good friends in MD. some of those friendships just blossoming.

We met many new people that I imagine will be in our life for a long time. Family of work colleagues, online contacts... the list goes on.

We continue to be reminded that life is fragile and can change in an instant.

We said a tentative hello to a whole new world.

we learned, as we've learned with every adversity, that life goes on, with or without you and that we've continued to move on, at our speed, together.

we reminisced about the early days of our marriage this past New Years Eve, as we drank champagne and played the game of Life, a throwback from the early days.

All in all, a year of very very highs and incredibly low lows. A year that we won't ever forget, in all it's glory and guts. It was a year with depth like no other, a year that really started November 19 2005. It was a year that tested us, that challenged us, and in some cases truely rewarded us with the riches that life can be. Goodbye to a year of change, a year of survival, a year of deep deep continued sorrow and incredible hope for the future. Goodbye 2006 and hello to the future, 2007.