Dear Max,

I have started this letter so many times.  I started it the day your family said Yes.  Then again when they were racing against time to gather paperwork.  And again at DTC.  Then LOA.  Then I-800.  But each time, I was burdened with the gargantuan What-If in the back of my mind.  What-if they don’t make it in time before you turn 14.  And then I would hit delete.  ˜I’ll do it at the next step’ I’d tell myself¦. ˜just to be sure.’  While I have been rejoicing since June that you have a family, I haven’t quite been ready to shout it from the roof tops¦.just in case.

But now Max¦.NOW I AM SHOUTING IT!!  As, your family just received that last piece of paper that says, œGO GET YOUR SON!  So now I scream and shout from the top of my lungs¦. I’m jumping roof top to roof top¦. WE DID IT MAX!!!  WE DID IT!  THEY ARE COMING FOR YOU!!!  And boy are they perfect.  They are perfect for you, and you for them.

I won’t lie Max.  While all my letters to you were filled with hope (here, here, here, and here), doubts definitely tried to worm their way in.  With each passing month, each month you grew older, those doubts got heavier and heavier to carry.  I would do all I could to use them to fuel my desire to try for you even harder.  And when your family said Yes¦.EUREKA!  But that didn’t immediately erase the doubts.  There was still much to do!!  Over the past several months I have sprinted alongside your family as they race to you.  And what a privilege it has been!  To be the one to hold their hand, as they prepare to hold yours forever.

In this season of Thanks, I give thanks for you Max, and for your amazing family.  I give thanks for your patience, for your bravery, and your resolve.  And I give thanks for your family’s dedication to you, and for their faith in knowing you are meant to be with them.  I hope one day to meet you and give you a huge hug!  In the meantime, I’ll sleep well, knowing that we made it in time.  Happy Forever Max!

Your Friend,

Sarah

There are so many older children waiting for a family, just like Max.  These children risk ‘aging out’ if not adopted in time, losing their chance of a family.  To learn more about adoption, and the children who wait, please visit our website, or email Sarah@madisonadoption.org.