Good-Bye Party

Today we had a good bye party at the Internot for Alex and his classmates. This wasn't an event that I looked forward towards. As happy as I am to have our adoption final, like all new beginnings, this one must start with an end of that which was and now is no longer.

The first decade of Alex's life brought much pain and hurt, but there have also been bright spots of love along the way. His mother and father loved him to the best of their abilities, however blunted their capabilities may have been. At the moment of conception, no mother or father intends to abandon their child to face life alone. Yet ultimately these children were left parentless to fend for themselves in a world that even adults find difficult.

Yet as the Spanish Carmelite Friar, St. John of the Cross said, "In the dark night of the soul, bright flows the river of God." And God's river of goodness has brought souls of light to illuminate the way. Alex experienced the warmth of these pools of light shone by those who came to work among the dark halls of the Internot and it is these people that he will be leaving; bittersweet goodbyes amongst the joy of a family formed and united in love.

So to all of Alex's friends, teachers and caregivers I thank you for the love you've shared, the psalms you've taught, the games you've played, the lessons studied, the clothes you've ironed, the food you've served, the care you have given to this one small soul that my husband and I now call our son. Each of you has played a part in this child's life and placed a brick in foundation of his life. With love and appreciation to Natalia, Larisa, Dima, Lela, Viktor, Alyona, Michelle, Dima, Lisa, Tania, Dina, Maggie, Vinny, Oksana, Irina, Kelly, Tonya, Oleg, Nastya, all of Alex's classmates and the many others I've missed naming who have touched this childs heart. I Thank You, Randy Thanks You, Alex Thanks You and surely, God rejoices in you.