Celebration Day!

As I mentioned below, we had our court appointment today. We met Marina in the lobby and she brought us upstairs where she very specifically briefed us on what we would be asked, for the most part, and how we should answer, or at least what the judge was looking to hear. When we entered the court room the judge and two other officials sat along the head of an 8’ foot table length wise, and a very long conference table was adjacent to it, so both tables together formed a “T” sort of. Our children sat at the very end of the conference table, each with a book to keep them busy. Dom, myself and Marina sat in individual chairs along the wall, as well as the social worker, the orphanage representative, and the attorney for the orphanage. It was very official, and we all had our masks on! I felt that I wanted to connect more with these people but the masks made it difficult to do that…almost kept the whole proceeding a bit of a mystery. The judge spoke very softly. I have noticed that the people here speak very soft and they are a quiet people. It has been challenging at times for us, being a loud Italian family originally from New York, where you are brought up in an atmosphere of “shouting” being the normal way to communicate. I’m sure there are some of you out there who can relate!  Marina told us that Dominic would be answering the questions, and I would be called upon 2 times to answer some questions as well. But for the most part all questions would be addressed to Dom. He did great. Marina told both of us to make sure we look in to the judges eyes at all times. When Dom first stood to speak, he put his hands in the pockets of his pants and Marina immediately reached over and took them out. It is considered disrespectful. The kids did wonderful. At the end the judge asked the representative from the orphanage about our visits and how Maria is responding to us. What she said was beautiful….she said that Maria knows we are her Mama and Papa, she is eager to see us, is beaming when we arrive, is very affectionate with her brothers and sister, and she feels Maria is perfect for our family…that we have been preparing for this adoption all along, our children are well-behaved and there is a genuine love amongst us all. She said that in every orphanage there is a favorite, and Maria is the favorite here. She was genuinely and truly joyful that Maria has found us. I had tears in my eyes as Marina translated. The judge awarded us to be parents of Maria. We all hugged and thanked each other. Yeah!!! Later today we went to the orphanage and it was a great feeling as I went in to the groupa to pick up our daughter for family play time!

Dom will be flying back with the kids on the 12th, and I will be staying here in Khmelnitsky until around the 20th, hoping to fly back to Raleigh on the 25th or 26th with Maria. Lots to do until then!