The Long Road

A 12 Part Adoption Success Story

Part 5: The Long Road

This evening I have found myself wondering what the future holds for us as a family. The coming weeks will in all probability see us approved to adopt children, and we will find out if there are little ones waiting to call us “Mum” and “Dad”.

We have talked a lot about the way we would like to be – the things we would like to do – the life would like to build.

Our children will be allowed to climb trees, and eat dirt. They will not be allowed to miss dinner, and will not be allowed to leave the table until everybody has finished eating. Our children will be encouraged to read books, to play board games, to share things, to try new things out, and to make mistakes.

We have so many hopes. We hope that our friends and family will accept the children – with their inevitable differences and failings. We hope our friends will help us to mold the children just a little, but not so much that they lose who they are or where they came from.

During the two years spent enduring the adoption process, the end of the road has often seemed very far away. Reaching the end of the journey had never seemed like an attainable goal – the task became more of putting one foot in front of another rather than really achieving anything. The coming of this month and the beginning of the end of our journey seemed so very far away – and yet here we are.

On Wednesday we visit a second social worker to validate the report that has been drawn up on us. In two weeks time we go to the “review panel”. I have distorted visions of a gladitorial decision, with a chair person wavering their dictatorial thumb out in front of the amassed forum.

Following the end of this month a nervous anticipation predicts that our journey which has thus far been all about pushing the sled up the hill will become one of looking for the brakes.

Who needs brakes. Life is for living. It’s not even about the end result – it’s about being there when the stories are written.

About the Author

Jonathan lives in leafy Buckinghamshire, England with his infinitely better half, children, cats and chickens in a big old house that they fight with continually. They lurch from day to day in a state closely resembling total chaos, but somehow live to tell the tale. After several years trying unsuccessfully to start a family – pouring substantial quantities of money into an IVF hole in the ground en route – they started out down the road to adopting children, and have never regretted it for a second.

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net