Not to long ago we had another adoption anniversary, our first match visit. This day has been hard for me for a few years now. I remember every detail. I remember all the smiles. I remember all the excitement. Who would have thought, six months later it would be over.
We left on a Friday morning right after my husband had gotten off third shift. I was supposed to have the first shift of driving, while my husband slept a bit. We drove for over ten hours to get to a meeting place. The foster mom had chosen a restaurant the children loved. We had never actually to been to one of these. We ate an early dinner. We sat with them and just laughed and laughed.
When the children went off to play on the inside playground, we had a moment with the foster mom to go over a few things. She wanted to help us have more of an understanding of the youngest mental capacity. She also spoke of the oldest and how they will stand in the gap of their sibling over anything else. They will out their sibling first every time. After this brief conversation she called to the children it was time to leave. They didn’t even protest they went straight to their vehicle.
We followed their van to the next spot we were heading. We had no idea what was to come. We parked and walked down the street to this old church that had been turned into a theatre. We all went inside took our seats and watched a wonderful play. It was a great experience to have with them. After the play we met some of the actors, who the children and foster mom knew.
When we left the old church, the youngest grabbed my husbands hand. I got teary eyed when I saw this. I grabbed my phone to snap a picture of this moment. One I never want to forget. We helped the children into their van and said our goodbyes for the night. They made sure to asking if we would see them the next day. We smiled and nodded.
The next day, we were invited to the foster family’s home. We had homemade cinnamon rolls with them. Afterwards the youngest took my husband outside to play. The oldest took me to their room to show me their most prized possession, an art set. After awhile, we were setting off again to another location. This time we were at the foster dad’s parents home to go swimming. We played in the pool for hours. They have such wonderful imaginations.
When lunchtime came around we parted ways again. It was a good time to break, the youngest needed time to decompress. The older one had some chores needing completed by end of day. My husband and I had dinner by ourselves. We sat across from each other and just kept talking about the long process we had ahead. So many more firsts and long distance visits.
On our last day of the weekend, we attend church with the foster family and children. This day was special! We witnessed the oldest be baptized in water. They were declaring to the world they are putting their old nature to death. We made sure to capture another picture after service to mark the occasion. For lunch we headed to the food court at the mall. We sat with the children, since this is were our match kids wanted to sit.
We had to say goodbye quickly after eating. We had a very long drive to get back home. Surprisingly, they gave us each a hug! Got in our van and drove home. We were mentally and emotionally exhausted, but we couldn’t wait til the next visit.
Journey 
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