Wow. Where do I begin? Well, I'm in Ghana. I've been here for 14 days now I think. First night I got in VERY late, so I stayed in Accra at Hotel Obama. It was ok. Just a place to sleep. In the morning I got a flight to Kumasi. (Shoulda taken the bus, but don't know how it works.) Ms Mary (who runs the orphanage) picked me up at the Kumasi airport & took me to the hotel near the orphanage. It was about $13/nt USD. It wasn't bad. There was no a/c or hot water, no towels are provided, no internet, and it was so dim I couldn't see anything. But, I'm pretty durable, so it was alright for the 10 days I was there.
Anyways- Friday afternoon I was taken to the orphanage. I had this awful fear that I wouldn't recognize my own children when I got there! But they actually took me inside, then brought the kids in. They are beautiful! Just like the picture! They were SO quiet & shy! But by the end of they day they were a little more comfortable. They are really great kids!
Let me sidetrack for a minute & tell the hard details. The first few days were devastating for me. Everything I knew about the kids was false. I know our agency switched representatives in Ghana. So I guess the old rep was the bad guy who lied. Anyways- the hardest thing was their ages. I started to wonder Friday if they were really 8 & 6. So I asked Serwaa her age. "I am 10 years old." Shocked. She is older than my bio daughter. Hard. Because our first priority with the ages was to keep her the oldest. Then Kontoh. He says 8. You know he was going to be my baby. I'd been picturing this boy who just turned 6 two months ago. It's like I lost 2 years of my baby's life in that one second. We didn't even know his official birthday. He will actually be 8 in March. It honestly took a few days for me to accept it. But I'm ok now.
That's enough of that. Over the past 10 days, I've met with social welfare twice, and the lawyer 3 times. By the way- at the lawyer, I got to meet my children's mother (who I thought was deceased). She was a sweet, quiet lady. I liked her.
Yesterday I got to my new hotel in Kumasi. (I'd been advised to stay near the orphanage so we could run all the legal errands. But I really needed some time with just my kids.) We've been having a great time- swimming, eating on the balcony, reading Christmas stories online.... What's strange is that it feels different than I thought. I don't feel like I'm with brand new kids. I just feel like I'm with my kids. I'm sure it won't be this easy when we get home. But so far- everything is normal.
In just 2 days, they will officially be my children!
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I hope that court goes well. I am sorry about the ages. We also found out that our daughter was two years older and even though it is okay it is an adjustment...I do understand.
ReplyDeleteGlad you are all together.
My thoughts are with you as you head towards court! The ages--that's so tough. Unfortunately, it can be super hard to tell ages when the kids come in, and parents truly don't know most of the time (in Ghana). I've found that even when a child's date of birth can be verified as true, sometimes kids say their ages are higher than they are (because don't all kids want to be older)?! Not at ALL questioning your kids' ages--just sharing some thoughts. Hopefully their ages will be perfectly clear to you after they've been home for several months. At any rate, I'm so glad that it's not a deal breaker for you and that you are standing by your kids!
ReplyDeleteIt's so good to hear from you. I've been thinking about you often. It sounds like overall things are going well. I'm very glad their ages didn't scare you off. It will all work out! As I noticed Anita mentioned they may and may not be that old (not that it matters anymore) but you will be the one to eventually decide how old you really think they are. They will still fit into your family just fine.
ReplyDeleteGood luck at court! It will feel so good after that is done!
The day we picked up our kids in Ghana, we discovered that they were each 2-3 years older than we had been told (which was verified by our dentist and their development after we got home). However, while their physical ages are older ... each of our children were MUCH younger academically, socially, emotionally. So ... your 10 year old will still be the "oldest", I am sure.
ReplyDeleteLaurel