Hellobee » The Roller Coaster… http://www.hellobee.com Say hello to parenthood Fri, 24 May 2013 14:30:04 +0000 en hourly 1 The Roller Coaster… http://www.hellobee.com/2012/11/19/the-roller-coaster/ http://www.hellobee.com/2012/11/19/the-roller-coaster/#comments Mon, 19 Nov 2012 13:30:26 +0000 Mrs. Paintbrush http://www.hellobee.com/?p=35916 People often compare the adoption process to a roller coaster ride. Your highest highs, and your lowest lows… and once you are on the ride, you relinquish all control. (As a Type-A , control freak personality that was very, very hard for me! I should also point out that I don’t like real-life roller coasters either.) I’m sure that the journey to parenthood feels like this for many, but for adoptive parents, there is a lot more uncertainty. There’s a whole lot of paperwork, a lot of unknown timing, and a whole lot of surprises. The best surprise obviously being getting “THE call.” The call that tells you that you are parents. There is absolutely nothing like that call, and the anticipation I feel for it is similar to a child waiting for Christmas or their birthday. Or maybe both rolled into one. But before that call, it really does feel like a roller coaster ride. There’s a quote I stumbled upon online several years ago. It was part of a “sample Maid of Honor” toast, but it really spoke to me.

“As you sit side by side through this roller coaster of life, remember to scream from the peaks, hold hands through the dips, laugh through the loop-de-loops, and enjoy every twist and turn.” - original source unknown

This journey in particular has felt very much like a roller coaster to me. We’re navigating through new twists and turns with the paperwork, upside down loops that have my stomach in my throat, and some unexpected delays at the top of the hills before we plummet down hands in the air screaming with joy.

A couple days ago, one of the more reputable blogs that follows the process in Korea posted that they didn’t believe the remaining 10% of children that were slated to come home this year were going to complete the new legal process. In other words, they might not be home this year as expected. And just like that, I felt that I was hanging upside down, stomach in my throat. My first thought was “those poor families!” Waiting for a referral is hard stuff… but waiting for the travel call?! So. Much. Harder. And to have to go through the holidays when your child, and your heart, is halfway across the world? Unimaginable.

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