August 2, 2004
Two Years Ago today…. We were in labor. Not the kind where you rush off to the hospital and forget how to breathe, but the end result was still a baby – our baby. I also forgot how to breathe! Two years ago today, we were anxiously pacing the floor waiting for the phone call that would culminate in the moment that we had waited so long for. It was the day that we would receive our referral of our youngest daughter and we would finally see her face. At 1:30 p.m., the phone rang and I saw our agency’s name on the caller id. My heart skipped a beat, I had to concentrate to breathe and I could feel the tears coming already. On the other end was Becky, from our adoption agency. She asked how we were doing and I said the usual “fine” and then she said “Well, you are going to feel even better in a moment. I am looking at a picture of YOUR daughter and she is beautiful!” That’s all it took. The floodgates burst open and I was a drowning in my own joy as I listened to the few little details of the child that I had dreamed of for so very long. When we hung up, all I knew was her Chinese name (found out later that I had gotten that wrong!), her age, weight, orphanage and that she appeared to be healthy and was definitely beautiful. That was all we needed to know. Nothing else mattered. Immediately after our phone call, Becky emailed a picture of our daughter. Our whole family (Eric, Alex, Amanda and I) crowded around the computer and at 1:36 p.m. we laid eyes on our precious baby girl for the very first time. It was a moment that stood still in time and is forever etched into my heart. I remember saying “She is so perfect” and laughing and crying at the same time. She seemed so familiar, like I had always known that sweet little face. This really WAS the child in my dreams! Just like in The Grinch, we felt our hearts grow that day! That sweet, little serious face with the most perfect, kissable lips, she was ours. Little Wu Ping Bin, soon to be Linzi Madison Wu had finally made her grand appearance into our lives. The rest of the day is a complete blur as we spread the news. Eric was a proud daddy and immediately began looking at maps and globes (you have to know that Eric reads maps like a good novel). Alex printed her picture and ran all over the neighborhood showing it to whoever he could find. Amanda couldn’t stop looking at her picture and wondered why Linzi didn’t have hair. In between phone calls, emails and visits, Eric and I were trying to find out everything we could about Wuwei, Gansu, her orphanage and what we had to do to get her home. From that day until the day we actually held Linzi in our arms, her little picture was always within our sight. I had it posted in nearly every room of the house, in my purse, on the console of my car, the kids’ backpacks and anywhere else I might be. We looked at it constantly, all day, every day until the day we met. We received a few more precious pictures before we traveled and some of them are actually better shots of Linzi, but this one will always be my favorite. This is the one that captured our hearts on that fateful day that changed all of our lives forever.
LINZI MADISON WU - We Love You!!!!
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