The luckiest girl in the world
Sometimes I’m overwhelmed by the luck I had in adopting Oscar. I chose to start my process before the massive influx of applicants to the Vietnam program in the spring of last year. I chose an agency that worked in multiple provinces and had a (fairly) steady stream of referrals, and most importantly was willing to help me in traveling early (if six 1/2 months after referral is “early”) to get Oscar by allowing me to have a G&R before visa approval. And we all know I was blessed to get the world’s cutest little boy (yeah, your little boy is the cutest, too). I was also amazingly lucky to receive my visa approval in only 90 days.
When I was in Hanoi in February I met two other families using a different agency awaiting their approvals as well. Their agency had allowed them to travel, but had not scheduled a G&R for them. Both of these families are still waiting for a determination on whether they may adopt their kids and bring them home. I frequently receive email messages from other friends who are still waiting for news on their visa status. Friends who in many instances received referrals either at the time I did or even before I did. Because I shared my story of traveling early, I also receive messages from others I haven’t personally met telling me their stories of having a referral for a child involved in a dispute with CIS or the Embassy (where a birth parent who has moved, multiple requests for additional information, etc.). Some of these families have been waiting for over 6 months for their I-600 approval.
This spring’s news of the impending shutdown and the abatement of much of the I-600 backlog shifted the focus from those waiting for visa approvals to those waiting for hard referrals by September 1st. I know some of you still waiting for visa approval either in the US or in Vietnam check in here periodically, and I just wanted to let you know that you’re anything but forgotten.
*Evidently, I do need to add this note, given a comment that was just submitted. This post was meant to be solely a message of support to PAPs in the Vietnam program who are still waiting for their visa approval. Period. It has nothing to do with the merits of individual cases, and it certainly does not have anything to do with extrapolating from the news about the 300 babies reportedly stolen/sold in Northern VN that these PAPs’ cases are in any way suspect.
Transformation complete
So, I’m out shopping yesterday at one of those fancy (or spendy, as some say in the Midwest) kitchen stores, and I find myself drawn to a lidded casserole dish. A what, you ask? Well, it seems they are a sort of stoneware dish that one can use to bake a casserole, which can then be conveniently served at the table – without bothering to place the food in another dish. I know – the mind reels. Brilliant, really. Without warning, thoughts bombard me of a myriad of concoctions thrown together with noodles or possibly rice, some sort of creamed condensed soup and chunks of meat. Perhaps even cheese. Opportunities abound. I felt inexplicably drawn to the grocery store. No, not a fancy Whole Foods or even Molly Stone, but a simple Safeway, where I would be able to acquire the necessary items for this feast. While there, it dawned on me that my metamorphosis is complete. I have, in fact, become my mother.
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Etta’s Hats
Where I’ve Been
