A True Blessing

It’s early morning. I’ve been working and return to the bedroom to find my 9-month old daughter, Rachel, removed from her cot, in my place in bed. She is asleep snuggling into my pillow. My heart melts filled with the joy that our daughter has brought us.

It’s our first birthday and our first date brownie, and Rachel is taking this morning tea very seriously. The cake is squeezed tightly in hand till it bursts out on either side before a small taste is placed to the mouth. Contemplation ensues. A larger mouthful is taken, and after a short interval the plastic bowl is empty.

At some point Jos and I swopped out a baby for a little girl. I was first aware of this while pushing a pram around our neighbourhood. Rachel kept pointing up into the sky, and I couldn’t make head or tail of what had caught her interest. So I turned around and looked up, and there was a half moon, pale against the afternoon sky. Since then Rachel has made a point of greeting the moon each time she sees it in the sky or on the page of her favourite book. 

My wife Jos and I have experienced the most intense period of really  living. Our focus has been utterly on our daughter. We have been blessed to have this time to watch her grow, her personality to bud and bloom. In all this attention on our daughter has emerged a family where there had once been a couple.

Let us not sugar coat this experience, we are exhausted and have unearthed new anxieties. But here is the kicker, we are happy and fully absorbed.

Without PROCARE our family would not have been possible, and we would be a lot less tired. Walking the process of adoption with our social worker and PROCARE was one of self-reflection, security in the knowledge that the organisation had trod the adoption path with prospective parents many times before, and honesty. We cannot thank PROCARE enough.

From: Jocelyn, Peter and Rachel – three vignettes