Saturday, February 04, 2006

People Like Us

Every year around this time, B & I make a major furniture purchase. Last year we bought our bedroom suit. It's very lovely. The bed is so big, we have a total of 13 standard and king size pillows. I am lounging in it right now. This year we decided to replace our living room suit and tables. We finally agreed and made the purchase. Delivery will be in 6-8 weeks.
However, furniture isn't really the point of this blog, it's about coincidences, and the love and admiration I have for my husband.
Last year we were trolling around the furniture store bickering about what bed to buy. As we meandered through the aisles we saw a family. A mom, a dad, and a daughter. A daughter very obviously from China. I pointed them out to B and told him I wanted to talk to them He asked me not to, saying no, it would be intrusive. ***Keep in mind we had recently shelved fertility treatments and dusted off Plan B. Plan B, our plan to adopt from China, had been languishing on the shelf growing fat and sassy. A little piglet of smug. Anyway, I decided to make a comment about how their daughter was pretty, and that we were adopting from China too! This family was so nice. Throughout our financing process they stood and chatted with us. Mainly with me. B stood beside me holding my hand and listened. I could feel the tension in his hand. When I asked him about it later, he told me he didn't want this family to think we were weird and intrusive. They were the first people, outside of our family and close friends, we had told we were adopting. It just seemed right to mention it, and I was glad I did.
Fast forward to today, we were once again in a furniture store bickering about what to buy. I had a small panic attack (something I do when I have to spend a lot of money). Wanting to quickly escape my radiating stress, B wandered over to the lounge area of the store to get me a soda. 15 minutes he comes back, a spring in his step, grinning like a fool. He told me he just met a family with a daughter from China. He then told me about how he walked right up to these people and told them that we are adopting and are finished with our homestudy. I said, "You talked to them?" He said he couldn't resist; he wanted to meet other people like us.
Ruby is gonna be one lucky little girl having a daddy like him, and people like us to be her parents, family, and friends.

4 comments:

Elle said...

The APCers have scared the crud out of me about approaching familes with children from China. I passed on a couple of opportunities to chat with adoptive families in fear of offending them. I am so glad to hear that you both had good experiences. Next time, I will definitely strike up a conversation.

Take pics of your new furniture!

furple said...

sounds so exciting. is adopting from China very common in the states? almost unheard of where i'm from.

Amy said...

Hey girlie... kudos to both you & your husband for being friendly enough to approach other adoptive families... I can tell you from BOTH sides of the coin (approching others prior to bringing Ruby Home and after we were home, being the one getting approached by strangers...) IT'S WONDERFUL AND DON'T LISTEN TO THOSE G'DAMN APC'ERS... THEY'RE A BUNCH OF HIGH STRUNG, UPTIGHT SNOOTS! That's right, I SAID IT!
Anyhoo, you both are going to be GREAT & there will be ONE MORE VERY HAPPY LUCKY LITTLE RUBY IN THE WORLD! =)

-Amy

ps. Email me, I have something for you that I think you might like! ;)

shhhhh it's a surprise to everyone else!

Debra Sue said...

furple,
Yes, it is an extremely common practice in the States.
Thousands of international orphans are adopted by
American families every year. We have friends that
have adopted from China, Russia, Guatamala, and Korea,
and that's just in our small state. We chose to adopt
because of infertility, but that's just one of many
reasons out there. We chose China because of the
health of the babies, we wanted a girl, and because
the process is so sophisticated and streamlined. Being
organizationally-challenged, we needed an established,
successful system.
Hope this isn't too much info!
Deb