December 9, 2007
The day we have all been awaiting with eager anticipation has finally arrived. Gotcha Day! All of us share mixed emotions of happiness and sorrow on this special day. The addition of Cory into our family will be a joyous one, but we all sympathize with the loss of his foster parents. For the past 18 months of Cory’s life, he has been nurtured and grown up by Dave and Susie Bickford – a family that truly loves him.
We spent the morning with the Bickfords, Cory and many friends before the formal and official adoption in the evening. There were praise songs, hymns and a great message. Many of Cory’s friends told us that they have longed prayed for a family of believers to adopt him. Cory was very receptive to all members of the Vazquez family. He called mom ”ma-ma” and dad “da-da”! Colin is “gir-gir” (chinese for “older brother”); Hannah and I are “jie-jie” (“older sister”); but he calls Merriella by the term for younger sister: “mei-mei” (he’s bigger than she). All morning, he was open to us holding him and feeding him. When he retired to take a nap, we departed till we would receive him later that evening.
At 5 o’clock Xi’an time, we quickly dashed over to the location where we were to pick up little Cory. He was already there when we arrived and immediately recognized us as we entered the main doors. All of us were greeted by warm and tender hugs from this sweet little smiling boy. The handover was smooth and relaxed. A few joyous tears were shed and many hugs were exchanged. Cory didn’t cry at all. The truth of the matter is, we wouldn’t have had such a smooth transition with Cory had it not been for the time and dedication that his foster parents put into preparing Cory for joining our family. Our family has truly seen the Hand of God working in this little boy’s life. An adoptive family is often called an orphan’s “forever family”. But Cory’s forever family includes the Bickfords and all his friends that have prayed so fervently for him since he was abandoned shortly after his birth. He will see this extended “forever family” once again in the presence of God.
We had a slight problem though…what do you do when you need a bottle and a potty chair but have neither? As soon as we left the building, dad, our adoption guide and I started our crazy night walking to find our necessities. The local WalMart didn’t have what we needed, so we kept looking… Along the way, we realized we needed dinner, so we began searching for the nearest McDonalds. After some frequent stops to question passers-by and get our bearings, we arrived at the Golden Arches within 20 minutes (dad did everyone concerned a favor by NOT attempting to speak Chinese! He let our guide to place he take-out order).
Already, Cory has especially taken to Colin and takes pleasure in running around requesting Gir-Gir (Colin) to attend to his every need. Of course, Colin eagerly rushes to his side and dedicates his full attention to Cory. He is quite the big brother and I already see the older more mature side of him dominating the “used to be youngest son.” Merriella is doing quite well and plays the part of the big sister fantastically. Cory calls her little sister and insists that he is older than her. They both require a large amount of attention and I feel as if we have twins now. Cory is a whopping 35 lbs. and feels like lead weights, but he has been a most joyous addition to our family! We couldn’t have hoped for a smoother transition – it has been amazing!
