In Our Arms

Dear Joseph,

After holding you in our hearts for over 20 months, today, for the first time, we held you in our arms. This is a day we will never forget.

We woke up bright and early this morning in anticipation of meeting you and after what seemed like eternity we finally made it to the orphanage around 3:00pm. We were one of the last families to arrive at the orphanage. The other families that were there to meet your friends were already in one of your playrooms playing together with some new toys. When we walked up, we saw you standing at the front door of the room with that same precious and innocent face that was in all of the pictures. We bent down to talk to you, but I think you were a little overwhelmed by all of the visitors that were there.

Our first impression was that you were so small – smaller than we had imagined after seeing the pictures. We fell in love with that beautiful face of yours all over again. Using a few toys to lure you, soon you were on our laps and in our arms. You were definitely the most laid back of all the children in the room – but I think you were also one of the youngest. We loved watching you play with the soccer ball and kick it in the courtyard – and you were good at it! Several of the other parents even commented on that.

We were supposed to spend our time playing with all of the children at the orphanage, but it was so hard not to focus on just you. At the end of our time, you started to open up a bit as we were rolling the ball back and forth to each other – and I think we almost got a smile from you! We love you and can’t wait to bring you home.

Love,

Mom and Dad