One year ago today was Referral Day. After nearly a year and a half of paperwork and waiting, last May 24 we got The Call from our agency telling us that we had a daughter. We were told everything they knew about her and her picture was emailed to us. His email got caught in his company’s filter and I spent many agonizing hours waiting for him to get it so we could look at her for the first time together. We finally gave up waiting and agreed I could look at the picture by myself. I saw her face for the first time at about the same time of day that I am writing this entry. It was love at first sight.

Today it is hard for me to remember a time when she was not a part of our lives. She has fit in so seamlessly, so perfectly, so magically that it seems as though she has always been here.

But I know that today is the day that I began to be her mother and he started to really believe he would be a father.

I am so grateful for all the people in our lives (and there are a lot) who helped to make our dream a reality. I am so grateful for the lives of all of those who touched us and our daughter during the process: her orphanage caregivers, the government employees in China who somehow knew that she was ours, our social worker, the agency employees who helped us prepare our paperwork, the nice people at US Immigration, our local police station and fire department, everyone who helped us with fundraising and preparing our home, our travel mates and guides in China, the list goes on and on.

I am forever grateful to our daughter’s birth family for the treasure they have given us.

Happy Referral Day, Peanut. I know that to you, it was just another day, but it was a beginning all the same.