I think it’s time to shut down this CaringBridge site. Our adoption journey is practically done (except for the last few pieces Mama’ needs to do). Santiago now has a Certificate of Foreign Birth, but it has his mom’s wrong info (we'll work to correct that). We are aiming to get a social security number soon (so Papa will feel better come tax time), too.
I’ve been delaying this post until I had “the perfect” post to put up. The fact is that we live an imperfect life, except for the fact that Santiago is in it. We LOVE being parents and have so much fun doing it. We LOVE watching him grow and learn and teach us things everyday.
He is, though I always found it corny to hear, the ultimate light of our lives. He teaches us to be patient (though he’s not – what one-year-old is?). Every night when we watch Wheel of Fortune (don’t judge, I swore my child would never watch TV, too) I adore the way he “Oooohhh’s” and “Aaaahhh’s” over the prizes. I also love the way he misses his Papa (Dad) each time I take him away for a weekend to visit family or friends.
And a thank you to CaringBridge – What a wonderful site you have been to host our journey. We have been blessed with a wonderful life with a wonderful child, and for those that follow the site please email me at kaanich@student.lsc.edu if you’d like our new blog address. I cannot thank CaringBridge and other families enough for all the info you gave me, and I can only hope I’ll be a resource for families heading to Colombia in the future.
To Santiago’s birth mother – You are a kindred soul that I am sad I cannot live my life beside. I love your son as much as you do, and I hope that you can find solace in knowing that. Though we have never met, we miss you and look forward to the day we will all reunite as a family.
To those that followed our journey and leave it here, I hope you have seen the love of adoption and that it has touched you in some way. Our lives are of course forever changed, and I hope that yours are, in some small way, changed as well.
With best wishes and love for you all,
Ryan, Kate & Santiago
