Home

We’re home. We arrived at the Seattle airport at 10pm last night and drove home. Today, we woke up in our own beds and ate breakfast, lunch and dinner at home. We played in the sprinklers, drew pictures with sidewalk chalk, played with trains, did yard work, ate dinner (thank you, Francine!), walked the dog, and started unpacking at home. Today felt completely surreal. I have imagined Duzi’s first day home ever since we started the adoption process. After my sparkling, blissful Brady Bunch daydreams about adoption, I was always careful to remind myself that the superficial world of happily-ever-after-narratives and cheesy Disney channel sitcoms in which we live is seldom accurate, that reality can often be disappointing.

Not today.

Watching Duzi play in the yard, in the playroom, and in his bedroom was just pure awesomeness. He confidently walked around the house, exploring the place he had long dreamed about. We rode bikes, brought out the Slip n’ Slide, met neighbors, and collectively basked in the security, familiarity, and promise of home. Although Duzi has been in his new home less than 24 hours, it is clear to me today that he knows what home means. After eating breakfast this morning, Duzi looked at me with a very serious expression and said,

“Mom, I just have a family.”

After swallowing a huge lump in my throat, I replied,

“You do, buddy. Duz, we have been waiting for you for a very, very long time.”

He smiled really big and then ran outside to play with Alex and Caleb.