THE BIG DAY!!!!!!!!!!... and a Big Surprise!

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2010 is the day that Steve, Summer and I were FINALLY reunited with Tatyana!!! We woke up with palatable excitement that we would soon be leaving to see our precious Tatyana. Eating our free breakfast at the hotel was almost an annoyance but we needed to eat and, if we had to eat, we were most happy to share breakfast with Sergei and the other couple I mentioned before who are adopting from the same orphanage and are also staying at Hotel Mir, Jamie and Moises Antenucci. (NOTE: Due to a loading problem, the photos are out of order. See photo of us with Sergei - don't we look excited?!?). After breakfast, Sergei drove the three of us to the Inspector's Office here in Severodonetsk. (See photo of Summer and I at the entrance to the office.) By the way, I forgot to mention in my last blog entry that we were pleasantly surprised by this town. We thought it would be very rural with very few places to eat or shop but it is a little larger and has more food and shopping options than we would have expected. Admittedly, we don't have a slew of restaurants to choose from and have found at least a few general stores, grocery stores, etc. but none of them are close to the hotel and we must have Sergei drive us, get a taxi or take a cold walk (and, yes, it is big enough to have taxis). People walk a LOT in this town and there are markedly less cars than we are accustomed to seeing on American streets, not to mention the number of stray cats and dogs. (My favorite was a stray dog that we saw actually cross the street at a crosswalk - ha!) And, yes, it continues to be cold here and looks like we are in for highs in the 40's next week.

Anyway, back at the Inspector's Office, we entered the old, dark and very cold building and basically sat and watched Sergei hand the inspector papers, listened to the two of them talk in Russian, waited as papers were signed and then...TA DA, we were given our local referral allowing us to go to the orphanage, visit with Tatyana and proceed with the adoption process. The Hallelujah Chorus played in the background - well, at least it did in my head! We left to drive to the orphanage!!!! I will pause here to resolve the teaser at the end of the last blog because it is applicable to this Inspector's Office. The reason I may end up at the hospital before the end of this trip is because I keep tripping!!! For some reason, a lot of the doorways in Ukraine have raised doorsteps. There is a strip of raised wood or metal at the floor level of many doors and I have tripped over SO many of them that Summer now points down and says, "Mom, watch out for the step." And I hear this at virtually every doorway!

As we drove the short distance to the orphanage, excitement definitely mounted! I felt giddy! We got out of the car (See photo of Sergei, Steve and Summer in front of the school.) We entered the school (another old, dark and very cold building), went to the Director's Office and chatted with her with Sergei's translations. She is actually the Deputy Director since the Director is on vacation but she was a fairly serious yet cautiously warm woman looking at us almost maternally but then speaking as a sage advisor telling us the importance of maintaining Tatyana's Ukrainian background and her Russian language. Drum roll...she then left to get Tatyana. The minutes felt like an eternity and I can't remember anything that was said during that time because I just kept staring at the door. Suddenly, the knock heard round the world was a rapid and excited pounding. The door flew open and Tatyana stepped in with THE biggest smile on her face...and the hug-fest began!! It literally took my breath away! Not only did each of us receive an enveloping hug, we each gave and received numerous hugs over and over. It was a surreal moment! Everything we have been working for and waiting for during the last 9 months became a reality with that knock on the door! It was an emotional and joyous and long-anticipated reunion! (See the multiple photos of the hug-fest and the one that includes the Deputy Director.)

Well my emotions about this day have made me run a little long on this blog entry. I have more to share about this reunion day and more wonderful photos but will stop for now and follow-up as soon as I can with the rest. I am SO thankful for blogs that allow us to share this priceless adventure with all of you! Keep the comments and emails coming because they are VERY welcomed as we experience this amazing journey and immerse ourselves in Tatyana's world! And I know you are anxiously awaiting my teaser for the next entry (Ha!) and, sadly, it will be a disappointment for you because it will be the reveal of what "...and a Big Surprise" means in the title above...I love suspense, don't you????

Sunny