Tuesday, October 17, 2006

A Travel Group in the Making

We're almost 7 months into our wait and I'd say it's prime time this group of waiting mommies and daddies finally met one another! When our dossier's went to China in March of this year, each family in our group was sent a list of names and phone numbers of the others in the group. For myself, I read the list over in anticipation, put it in a safe place, would occasionally pick it up and read it but never really took it any further. I think with all the delays it feels like I'm living in a time warp and somebody is pushing with all their might against the clock. I'm confident that I'm not the only one that feels that way!

Today my thoughts changed. I want to get to know these people and I hoped they felt the same.

Guess what...they did! I booked a reservation at the Mandarin Restaurant (where else?) and armed with my telephone in one hand and list of travel mates in the other, set the wheels in motion. I must admit to feeling a little apprehensive as I dialed the first number but within seconds of speaking with Anna all that was gone! She was excited that someone from the group had set something up and they're hoping to attend the dinner.

As I made my way through the list of 9 families (will be 10 including myself) I was able to contact 6 of them. Guess what...every single family had the evening of November 18th free! They still need to double check with their spouse but it looks like we'll have a great turnout for our very first meeting! I'm really quite excited about meeting the other families as we will share such a monumental time in our lives together. We don't know when our children will enter our lives but we know they will and we'll all be in a room together when they do! Can you imagine???

Everyone I spoke with was excited that we are going to have an opportunity to get to know one another and people were so thankful that something had been organized. Sounds like we have an awesome travel group!

One of the reasons I'm so thankful for the agency that God placed me with is that it is small. If I'd been in charge I'm sure I would have chosen a large agency but God knew what was best so He opened the singles slot in a smaller agency close to home. What a blessing it is and will continue to be to have all of our 10 families living within 100km of one another! It makes getting to know one another prior to travel easier and the added bonus of us keeping in touch through the years as our little girls grow.

What fun it will be when this group of people who are living their lives in slow motion during the wait enter the fast lane of parenthood together!

14 comments:

  1. Good for you on taking the initiave and making it happen. Love that! It is sort of my philosophy to make it happen yourself 'cause if you wait for someone else to do it, it may never happen!

    It is going to be a great time I am sure.

    Can't wait to hear all about it.

    Keep smilin!

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  2. That is sooo awesome Catherine!! I wish I lived closer to Vancouver where our agency is! Still we are going to try to make as many get-togethers as we can for Annaliese's sake once we are home!

    Have fun!!

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  3. Hey Catherine! That sounds like a great start. You are the woman getting out there and setting things up :0)

    That would be so nice to have all those families close by and familiar.

    I'll be awaiting the story of the first get-together!

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  4. You are such a great motivator, Catherine! Have fun with this and I'm sure you will meet many great people on this night. Great to meet travel buddies!

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  5. CONGRATS...that is so great that you did that. I sure wish I had an idea of who I will be travelling with. This will sure help & give some much needed excitment while you are waiting to travel. I look forward to hearing about your supper!!

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  6. Good for you Catherine!!! That is so cool, and I bet everyone was thrilled to hear from you. Shoot I would have been thrilled if you were in my group and called. Have fun!

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  7. Kudos to you for taking the initiative. The wait is made that much easier when its shared with others. Keep us posted!!!!

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  8. Great idea! You won't regret this for a second. It'll be so much easier to travel once you've all gotten to know each other a bit. You'll make new friendships that'll last a lifetime.

    You're so lucky that you all live so close. My agency is in Florida and my facilitator is in California so not much chance I'll hook up with anyone from either place out here in Ohio.

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  9. Hey Catherine.....any sign of your srapbook page for Hannah that I sent???

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  10. That is a real blessing, Catherine! Your Hannah will have so many good friends in the area. I love that you're all getting together. What fun that will be! I hope you post pictures of all the moms and dads!

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  11. While the blogs and email groups are great for support, it's really special getting to know other prospective adoptive parents who live nearby. You'll end up making friends for life and your kids will all end up growing up together too.

    Very exciting!

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  12. Yeah this is going to be a lot of fun.

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  13. Awesome! We've gotten together with our travel group three or four times already and it's so good to connect with people who are on the same journey. Have a great time - hope it works out for most of the families on the 17th!

    k

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  14. That is great Catherine! Looking forward to doing the same with my group one day!

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