A call from our adoption agent
Filed Under (My Story) by dad on 19-12-2008
At 9:00am on December 21st 2006, I received a call from our adoption agent. I had called her earlier in the week and left her a message requesting that she call DSS and let them know that it was not her agency that called them. When she returned my call, she was pretty upset.
Her primary reason was due to me not informing her about what was going on. While I can see her perspective on it, at that point we had paid her in full and our daughter was legally ours. We had intended to maintain a relationship with her, as she was sincerely wonderful to work with. I informed her that we were only sharing what was happening with those that needed to know. We were specifically instructed by our attorney to not discuss the case with anyone and that we should even be very careful about discussing the details with our family. Being an attorney herself, I thought she would understand. She didn’t.
I did not discuss the case with her at all. I only told her I was working with an attorney, and that I did not do what I was accused of. She then shocked me by asking if we wanted to keep our daughter or not. I very quickly told her YES, and that she was our daughter and that we loved her very much. I in turn asked her if she intended to take our daughter from us. She never really answered the question, but exclaimed that she wanted what as best for her.
I don’t exactly recall how we ended the conversation. It was neither on a bad note or good note, but I did decide at that point that she was not understanding, nor on my side. I would not talk with her again. Future correspondence from her was directed to my attorney based on his recommendation.
A call from DSS
Later that evening, my wife received a call from our DSS case worker. She informed my wife that I would be allowed to spend 6 hours with my family on Christmas eve, and 6 hours on Christmas day. This would be the first time since getting married that I had not spent Christmas Eve and all day Christmas day with my family. But at the time, I was extremely grateful. Compared to the 3 hours I had, 6 hours was a God send.
When you’re faced with and going through what myself and my family were going through, focusing on the small wins is what keeps you going to the next day. The small things really do matter when most everything else has been stripped from you.
