One year ago today...

One year ago today, June 9th, 2008, we received a phone call from America World Adoption Association. It was THE call we'd longed for, waited for, prayed for for the previous 30 plus months...THE phone call that would forever change our lives.

I'll never forget hearing the phone ring. Based on all the internet rumors, we guessed that this would be the day our agency would call, because the China Center of Adoption Affairs in Beijing had mailed the referrals a few days earlier. I was trying to keep myself busy cleaning my house and doing laundry that morning. Every time the phone rang, I broke my neck getting to it to see if this would be the call. Of all mornings, that phone rang off the hook. I was a wreck. Sometime around 11:20 am, it rang again and for some reason, I KNEW this was the one. I ran over to my desk, grabbed a pen and tablet, looked down at the caller ID, and my heart began to beat so hard I could almost hear it. My housekeeper was vacuuming, so I ran downstairs to the basement where I'd be able to hear. I remember telling the girl to give me a second to sit down because I was sure I was going to faint. My voice surprised me at how weak it was. The tears were already rolling and my hands were trembling so bad, I could hardly take notes. She started out with a big congratulations and proceeded to tell me all about the precious baby we'd been matched with. She told us where she was from, described her appearance, gave details about her health and temperament, and I'll never forget asking her name. When she said, "Gan Li Ming," I asked her to repeat it and spell it. She explained that the "Gan" was sort of like her last name, because it indicated which orphanage she was from, but that "Li Ming" was the name she was given and called by. I sat there astounded as I was in a total state of "WOW" because I had SOOOOO wanted her name to include "Li" because I wanted to name her Macy Li, but only if it was truly a part of her given Chinese name. AGAIN, we had asked God for another detail that He had given us....her NAME! I BURST into that out-loud-crying and the girl from AWAA cried and laughed along with me.

Anyway, I remember hanging up around 11:50 and I knew I had to be at a hair appt. in 10 minutes that was a 20 minute drive away and so I grabbed my cell phone and purse and ran to my car, as I was dialing Phillip. When he answered, he says he thought someone had died because the shocking tone of my sobbing crying on the other end. I remember driving like a maniac, going through the details with him as all that tension/anticipation of the last 30 months was finally released in our conversation. By the time I arrived at the salon (which was another miracle in itself, considering my state of mind), I was a total disaster.

The rest of the day was spent calling every person we'd ever known, and tracking that infamous FedEx package that AWAA sent out that afternoon with all her referral info. and pictures. The following day, we would finally have in our hands that long-awaited package and be able to lay our eyes on that precious child for the very first time.

June 9th, 2008 was the longest day of my life...