Hey sweet girl-

Did you know it’s been almost a year since we’ve started this adoption process? A YEAR! That is so long and we have so far to go, but this has been the most important, emotional year of my life- a year filled with inexplicable joy and heartaches. If we’re to believe the timelines, then we still have a year or two until we meet. (But God is bigger than timelines. Right, God? Right?)

Some day in the future, after you’ve been home a while and we’re snuggling before bed, you’ll ask me to tell you a story about something that happened before you came home. You might expect me to talk about how we painstakingly agonized over what color to paint your bedroom or how we were excited when we found a Pretty Pretty Princess game at a thrift store that didn’t have a princess tiara that had been duct-taped into oblivion (like ours does).

But I will probably talk about today and the love that was poured out upon us at Sonic.

I will talk about the roughly 30 people that came out to spend a portion of their Saturday with us- people who took the time to come out wearing black or khaki pants and their T-Rex Shirts. People who spent 4 hours shuttling tater tots out to cars, walking around with the “Smile Tray”, chasing phantom customers, and dancing with posters to try to entice potential customers.

You will laugh when I tell you that your dad almost busted on his face at least six times throughout the day because he was on roller blades. You will laugh when I recount how Lori tried to take off her T-Rex shirt and almost flashed some people waiting in stall 8 (flashing is probably against the rules at Sonic). You will laugh when I tell you that dentist Joe took his job with the smile tray very seriously. You will laugh when  I tell you that Flossie and Pop (my parents) did a coordinated dance while holding our “Help Us Adopt” signs. You will laugh when I tell you about how I forgot to put straws on every single tray that Roy picked up and still he was patient with me. You will laugh when I tell you that Kara and I channeled our inner Lucy and Ethel when we got put in charge of serious task of the ticket line.

I will tell you about our friends and family who drove from afar to come to a Sonic in a location what Dallasites refer to as “Northern Siberia”. I will talk about how they came to eat and support and love.

I will talk about the HUNDREDS of people that donated money to us, whether they knew us or not. I will talk about how several people pulled over to talk to the sign holders and ask them about our story. I will talk about how we raised $1,430.79 in just 9 hours.

I will talk about how the Sonic employees wanted to hear all about you and the adoption process, how they hoped that we would make alot of money so that we could bring you home. I will tell you about how, near the end of our 9 hour shift, the Sonic employees pulled money out of the pockets of their work pants and handed it to me. I will tell you that I hugged them and I cried (no surprise there, eh?).

I will talk about how, at the end of the day, I sat down to write this blog, even though I smelled like a mixture of sweat and tater tots and my ankles rivaled a pregnant woman’s. This blog is important. This day was important.

I want you to know that you don’t just have me and dad. We have an entire community rooting for us. I hope that someday you’ll understand the gravity of the situation- that hundreds of people are waiting for you, not just dad and I. I want you to understand the full force of that- that where you were once abandoned and alone, you now have strangers, friends, family, coworkers, international students, Sonic employees, church members, all on your team.

You are loved, little one. And not just by us.

Love,

Mom

A huge thanks to all that participated today, either by eating or volunteering or both.

{To read more Dear Daughter letters, click here.}