The Wait

Lately I have been thinking a lot about the long wait we have ahead of us. Most likely it will be at least two years, if not longer, unti we get a referral and see Miss Elena's little face for the first time. I can't help but compare how different the wait will be this time around. When we were waiting for Amelia, the entire wait was full of twists and turns, ups and downs. When we sent our paperwork to China in January of 2003, we were told to expect a 14 month wait (it seemed so long back then, and now seems so short!). In the Spring of 2003, SARS hit and eventually shut down all travel in and out of China. Referrals completely stopped coming, and no one knew what was going to happen next or when China would re-open. When SARS was under control and travel restrictions were finally lifted, referrals started coming two months of LIDs at a time. Our 14-month wait dropped to just over 8 months, and we got Amelia's referral in October of 2003. It was so much like a roller coaster ride that sometimes I swear I could hear the clicking of the coaster car as it approached a hill, and the rush of exhilaration with every twist and turn. It was a wild and crazy ride!
The wait for Elena so far seems more like we are in one of those long long lines at Disney. I know eventually we will be able to get on the ride and feel the same exhilaration, but right now all we can see around every turn is the huge line and long wait ahead of us. I am so grateful that we have Amelia to focus on during this wait, and I am trying to think positively and just enjoy the time that I have to spend with Amelia one-on-one. She definitely keeps us busy! One of the hardest parts of this wait is going to be watching her wait. She is just so excited to bring her sister home. I guess we can do the best we can to keep ourselves busy while we wait and we certainly have a list of things we would like to accomplish before Elena comes home: fence in the backyard, get the flower garden looking somewhat presentable, start Chinese school in the Fall (it would be great to be able to say something more than Ni Hao and Xie Xie this time around!), replace the kitchen floor and maybe take a nice family vacation.
Honestly, the more I think about it, although I would like a little bit more of a speed up with referrals, I could do without the drama of an infectious disease outbreak this time! Maybe this time I should just hope for slow and steady and a little bit less of a wild ride! And although you NEVER could have convinced me of this while we were waiting for Amelia, everything happens exactly the way it needs to happen in order for the right child for your family to be matched with you. It still amazes me that everything lined up exactly the way it did for our paperwork to be matched with Amelia's, and I can't imagine not being her Mom. I have a lot more faith this time around that everything will work out exactly as it needs to so Elena can join our family, so I guess we just need to learn to be patient.