As I am collecting stones on the beach this week and last, I am also clicking away some milestones in the adoption journey.
Milestone 1: Last week, Sharon (my housemate) and I went to North Philly to get fingerprinted by the Federal government at the office in charge of immigration. We both have to get fingerprinted because even though it is only me who is adopting, everyone who lives in the same house as me also has to get cleared. Makes sense. Well, all the humans who live with me, anyway. Jolie was not required to get paw printed. I froze as we hit a glitch. Sharon wasn’t listed as part of my process and I was going to have to file some more paperwork to get her what she needed to get fingerprinted. But, the nicest lady took pity on me and called the main office that handles such things. They were 2 hours behind in time and so since we were there at 8am, there was some time to kill. Turns out we were in the neighborhood where Sharon’s grandmother and great-grandmother used to live and where she spent much of her childhood. Our new friend at immigration suggested a diner for breakfast, we drove past the houses and got called back to the office almost in 2 hours exactly. The clock starts on the U.S. side now - four to six weeks.
Milestone 2:
Now that the clock started ticking for me to be granted permission to adopt an orphan internationally, I needed to make serious progress on the DR Congo side. So, I set week 2 of vacation to finding a lawyer - the key to keeping the ball rolling and sealing the deal. I’ve had a really hard time of it. But today, day 2, I wrote to about 15 people and one of them responded to me right away! (He must have been up LATE). He says that he has handled lots of adoptions for Americans successfully, has read all my questions and will soon be sending me another email with all the details I need to know. Could it be that the clocks on both sides of the ocean are beginning to sync up?
I’m super excited tonight and can’t wait to hear from him and get started on all the details that will need to happen so that my little boy can come home…which I hope is soon because I couldn’t help buying him an adorable little hoodie from LBI to wear on the plane ride home. :)
Thanks for reading and sharing the journey with me (if you’ve managed to make it this far down the page.) I will keep you updated. Keep praying!
In today’s Inbox:
Dear Applicant/Petitioner:
Your USCIS application/petition has been received and routed to the National Benefit Center for processing. Within 7 - 10 days by standard mail you will receive your official Receipt Notice (Form I-797).
