Certificate of Adoption
I, (Woman on a power trip), clerk of the family court of Saratoga County, do hereby certify that I have inspected the records of this court and find that:
AN ORDER OF ADOPTION was signed on the 19th day of July, 2006, by Hon. Courtenay W. Hall, Judge of the Family Court of the County of Saratoga, granting the petition of Sara Sullivan and Brendan Sullivan, adoptive parents of a child now known as Harrison (middle names excluded for privacy) Sullivan who was born at Pyongtaek, Kyonggi-do, Korea on the 13th day of February, 2005.
Signed, Woman on a power trip, a.k.a. Saratoga County Clerk
That's it, he is ours. He belongs to us, and we belong to him, officially.
I didn't think the day would be very emotional for me. After all, the moment he was placed in my arms at JFK airport I knew in a very primal sort of way that he was my child. Since that moment those feelings have grown stronger and stronger, and I didn't think I needed a piece of paper to tell me what my heart already knew for sure. But yesterday, after our 15 minutes in court, I found myself blinking back happy tears at random points during the day. I'd catch the glint of sun in Harrison's eyes, the swirl of his hair above his right temple, or the bottoms of his feet dirty from running through the yard, and I would feel my heart swell and my eyes fill. He is ours. Those are the three most delicious, most significant, most beautiful words in the English Language today. He is ours.
And we are his.
For those wondering, he did not wear his grumpy pants yesterday. He was smiling and happy and very active. He was thrilled to have most of his grandparents in one place, and he liked all of the recording equipment used in the courtroom. And the judge was funny, which put us at ease. After the extraordinarily ridiculous hoops we had to jump through to get to that point the actual proceeding went very smoothly, and our attorney seemed somewhat competant.
What is next? Birth certificates, citizenship certificates, and social security cards, oh my!
YIPEEE!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the officiality of it all. Now when he gets out of line you can lock him in the basement and there isn't anything anyone can do about it.
ReplyDeleteSeems like forever since we've seen you guys. We should get together soon.
that's wonderful. i didn't think that day would be so emotional for us either, but somehow it was.lots of happy tears on my end too. congratulations!
ReplyDeletep.s. he's getting so big!
jacks
fitsandstarts.blogs.com/ryetoast
wtd- you haven't seen our basement in awhile...it would be no punishement for H to be sent down there! It is stocked with his toys and sports a movie theater...perhaps we do need to hang out soon!
ReplyDeleteBrendan, Sara, and Harrison,
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy for all three of you. He is a lucky boy to have such good parents, and, or course, likewise. you two are very lucky to have him. He seems to be thriving. Keep up the good work.
Congrats on the wonderful news!
ReplyDeleteFrom the pics everyone looks happy and healthy! Best wishes to everyone....
Phil, Kara, and P4