A Letter To Estela On Our Adoption Day

Estelita,

For many years, your mom and I have been thinking and dreaming of the day that we would meet you.  One of the first conversations that we ever had way back in 2005, when we first met, was about the fact that someday we both hoped we would have the opportunity to grow our family through adoption. We did not know when, and we did not know where, we did not even know at that point that we would be together, but we were both excited about this dream and hope.

Soon we were to be married. Your Dutch father and Swedish, British, Irish, Dutch and New Zealandish mother tied the knot on August 18th, 2007.  Since that day we have dreamed a lot about you.  We thought about when we would first hold you in our arms and imagined the joys we would and will share together.  You joining us for this journey has truly been a dream come true and our hearts both melted when you first said the words mama and papito.  Your constant smile, your thoughtful imagination and resilient spirit have been a blessing and example for your mom and I.

Your joyous personality has been a constant in our family and for that we are so thankful.  To see your smile when you literally ate your first piece of gum, or how you jump for joy every morning for a glass of leche and your banano with peanut butter.  For your love for Oso Pardo and your sense of wonder and desire to know, exhibited in your beloved question of ¿porque?  Through this past year you have been constantly bringing smiles to our faces and we are more happy than ever to say without reservation that we are yours and you are ours.

You have showed us what it means to persevere, to be resilient and empathic. You showed strength through difficulty and continue to show love and gozo to the world around you. Through the joys you have been there with a smile on your face; when you swam across the pool for the first time without your floaties and declared yourself a fish, when you wiped moms tears away and told her everything was okay, the way that you run to greet me when I get home from work, through the singing of Edelweiss and Deep Sea and all the other tunes you have learned in your deep singing voice and through all the waiting you have been there telling your mom and I that “¡no hay nada que Dios no puede hacer!”

For all that and for so much more we want to say thank you Estela.  Thank you for making our lives joy filled and lighter.  Thank you for your smile and grace.  Thank you for your care and concern and thank you for liking onions.

We are so thankful to have shared the last ten months with you in Nicaragua and we look forward to the many trips and adventures that we will continue to share with you in your home country.  Together we will climb your volcanoes, we will swim in your lagunas, we will eat at your favorite comedors, we will ride the city buses and venture into the market hand in hand.  We are so thankful that we have had the opportunity to live in your beautiful country for the past five years and make kindred friends with your pueblo.  We want to celebrate your culture and your heritage with you as we can now proudly say that we are a Dutch, Swedish, British, Irish, Kiwi and Nicaraguan family.

You can look forward to piñatas for your birthday and getting your face smashed into your postre which we might even serve with Coco-Cola.  You can look forward to your dad trying to perfect gallo pinto and your mom doing everything possible with plantains, coconuts and the fresh fruits of Nicaragua.  We will celebrate your struggle for freedom and your independence, your liberation and your holy days.  We will light fireworks on Christmas-eve and wait for the Son to rise the next morning.  We also will share with you the Lakes of Minnesota, the corn fields of Iowa, your great-great-grandmother Gert's secret almond tart recipe and your great-grandpa Edwall's secret taffy recipe (as long as the secret stays in the family!)

And so we want to say Estela, on this very special day, welcome to this family, to our family, to your family, officially.  You are a special part of us and we are so thankful that we have found each other.  Things may not always be perfect, your papito will never make tortillas like the lady across the street and he will never get his Spanish down perfectly, your mom will not stop you from eating pineapple at night or keep you from playing in the rain.  We may never know, little one, more about your biological family, though we will do whatever we can to help you get the answers that you need.  We promise to always love and support you in the ups and downs, in your dreams and lives adventures.

We will always celebrate you.  We will take joy in who you are, who you are becoming, you are our little Nicaragüita, our little daughter.  What we do know and can say to you without reservation is that you are precious and that our family would not have been just right without you.  Dreams come true, we’re together!

We love you SO MUCH!  Te amamos, MUCHO!

Your Mamita y Papito