The last few days have been insane. We’ve all but disregarded the “schedule” to spend as much time as we humanly possibly with our mother and her family.
Things like visiting the museums, going to malls to buy shoes that I don’t really need, and scheduled trips to visit fancy korean flower gardens just didn’t seem to be as valuable as attempting to catch up on the 3 decades that I’ve missed with these people.
Pictured above is the first time that I was able to hold my mothers hand as we left the place of “reunion”, visiting the korean palace, and then some “hang time” with her family (our 2 uncles, two of their children, and some extended family).
Pieces of the “puzzle” have been quickly been put in the “correct” spot, answers to life-long questions are being answered, frustrations and anxieties are disappearing, relationships are being grown and restored, and the feeling of “wholeness” are overwhelming.
A few things that have been interesting:
- Pete looks like the “younger” uncle and acts like him too.
- Apparently, the “older” uncle is like me.
- If we ever wondered what a “sister” would look like, we now know (our cousin is gorgeous)!
- A few of our cousins are computer programmers. I guess tech runs in our veins!
- Many of our family members are Christians, with more than a few of them either in Christian colleges, or Seminary graduates.
- Our cousin’s (in the red) dream is to do world missions outside of South Korea… “because the rest of the world needs Jesus”… he’s also a ASP and LINUX nerd… i love that guy.
- I am the spitting image of my birth father, whom we have not been able to contact. My mother cannot keep staring at me. This is neat, in that we know what our father looks like, but opens many more questions…
- Our family was extremely athletic, with our mother being a dancer and a volleyball player. For those that know Pete and my “previous” life, we were also into “dancing”… Our uncles were marathon runners, and one of them is an Olympic bowling coach.
- They love video games. God, that’s awesome. We were watching Starcraft tournaments on TV and getting jazzed like it was the best thing ever.
- And More……….. there’s so much more…!
It frustrating trying to get all my questions answered while more questions are being created on the fly. I want to know everything yet am constantly feeling like I just can’t be satisfied. It’s like finishing reading my Google Reader then refreshing to see 1,000 more “unread” items queued…. bleh.
But, we’re doing our best. Thank you Lord for this. This is what I never knew I needed and even more than I could ever deserve.
Thanks for posting your thoughts and feelings. I'm been checking every few hours for this update!!! I am so happy for you!
hehe. love it.
You guys look so happy. It's awesome!
Man, so excited for you as I read your words above. Wow! God is good.
thanks casey!
So Awesome! I am beyond happy for you and Pete. Still praying
thanks brian for your support!
The picture of you and your mother holding hands is priceless. You can tell by every single pic just the sheer amount of joy felt by both you and your mother. Wow man, these last few posts have been nothing short pf one of the most amazing experiences I have seen on a blog.
joy is definitely an appropriate word for all of this…!
I'm very happy for you that you've been able to connect with your birthmother and extended family, and that you've had your dream realized and I'm sure so many questions answered (and probably many more to be answered!). I'm an adoptive mother of 2 wonderful kids who were also born in South Korea (a boy and a girl). I hope that if they want to someday, that they will be able to connect with their birthmother and we'll help them however we can.
I was wondering, and certainly don't feel like you need to answer such a personal question, how your parents (your adoptive parents) are feeling? Is there any advice you can give us as adoptive parents as to how we can encourage and support our kids?
God bless you on this journey!
adoptive parents LOVE it. see the newest post today… they had a chance to meet them in a virtual digital sort of way. they have always wanted this and couldn't be more supportive.
just keep loving on them. my parents said "i love you" in excess which never got old. hugs are also appropriate.
also, help them to understand god the father and the adoptive plan he has for them. this was huge in my growth and understanding and acceptance.
Awesome…it's like a great dream except you woke up and it's all still there…Praise God.
I'm really surprised you're still keeping up with your blog. I'd be wanting to spend all my time with my family.
it's tough, but, have to take breaks from the family to process. this was done nightly.
i do it for the community that's supporting me.