Gotcha Day

This week we will be celebrating the anniversary of 3 of our adoptions, our "Gotcha days" the day we became family.  It just so happens that this week seems to be the favoured week for adoption placements in our home.

Our first anniversary this week is from our first adoption and we are celebrating being a family for 14 years.  These 2 adults are now 20 and 26 and doing a lot of reflecting and questioning what their life would be like if they hadn't been adopted.  Both children gave us "thank you" cards, to our surprise, thanking us for everyting we have done for them.  It was extremely sweet and humbling that they would do this.  We are the lucky ones having the opportunity to raise them into their adult years.  When these 2 were placed with us the professionals that worked with them stated that they would never progress, that they would never have a thought of their own, they would only parrot words, that their challenges were so extreme they had maxed out on their abilities.  Anyone considering adoption I encourage you to listen to the professionals but don't take their word as the gospel.  These two have become so much more than what was expected.  The oldest lives semi independently, works part time, graduated high school, has an amazing sense of humour, is so loving, caring and protective.  In fact sometimes it feels like I have personal body guards between my 26 and 19 year old sons.  The 20 year old has also grown into a beautiful individual, she is extremely social, loves attending her day programs and S

pecial Olympics, and is very helpful around the home.  Both still have their challenges but are so much more than the children that were proposed to us.

Our second anniversary this week was for 4 children from our sibling group of 7, and we are celebrating them being family for 6 years.  These children arrived at 1,3,4 and 5 years of age and all were functioning extremely delayed.  When they arrived many of our friends thought we were nuts (that's still to be determined) because it was like we had added 3 infants and a toddler to our family of 13.  It has been a non stop ride with these children and the progress they have made is wonderful to observe.

Our third adoption anniversary this week we are celebrating 11 years for our 16 and 19 year old.  These 2 were quite the characters when we ment them, in fact both had been banned from the social workers office because of their extreme behaviours which gives both of them a good laugh now.  They are both working towards high school graduation and looking like this is a viable option (one taking a little longer than the other), in their various activities they are frequently recognized for their citizenship, hard work and effort and at home they are a joy to be around.

For all these anniversaries we didn't do anything special.  We do use the anniversary as a discussion starting point making sure the kids, especially the younger ones, remember their story and how we became a family.  This story is discussed year round but the anniversary is a good reinforcer.  Do you celebrat your adoption anniversary?  What do you do?