Happy Adoption Day by John McCutcheon (author, song writer) and Julie Paschkis was not available when my children were young but I wish it had been. The illustrations and text (originally a song) are bright and cheerful and together make a perfect book to celebrate the arrival of a child. The book follows the parents as they prepare, travel and arrive home. This book is most suitable for young children as adoption issues are not dealt with.
Meeting your child for the first time after months (or years) of plans, paperwork, and prayers is an emotional experience. Most families who have adopted a child celebrate the day that their son or daughter finally came home. Families have different names for the celebration – “airplane day,” “gotcha day'” or “homecoming day” are a few I know of. In our family we celebrate by going out to dinner. Later, the photo albums come out and we share the story of how we became a family.
Today is the day Gregory came home in 1991. We were not able to fly to South Korea to bring him home because Christina had pneumonia. A wonderful flight attendant used her mileage and escorted him from Seoul to Alaska and on to San Francisco. There were three families waiting for their sons that evening. The rest of the passengers exited the plane and we waited for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, three little boys were carried through the door. I knew my son immediately.
Meeting our baby boy.
Here’s an attempt to recreate the photo.
Do you have any special family celebrations?
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