Gotcha Day #1

by Fatherofeight | More from this Blogger

07 Dec 2006 09:38 PM

"Gotcha Day" is the name in the adoption community for the day that the child came into the home. It corresponds to the birthday of a natural child. It is a day celebrated by many adoptive homes and a time for great rejoicing. My wife and I were with a realtor looking for a new home, a larger home to accommodate young children. My wife's cell phone rang and it was our adoption social worker who informed us that we had a baby, a boy named Caleb. He was a month old and was being cared for in a shelter.

We were so excited. We really were going to have a baby in the house again. About six o'clock in the evening on the next day, our phone rang and the state worker was sitting in front of our house with Caleb. She had not bothered to call to make an appointment. Luckily, my wife was at home.

She brought the baby to our door. He was covered with a worn and very dirty blanket. Caleb did not look well. His complexion was very gray. He could not focus his eyes on the person holding him. It was obvious that he had not been held in his 30 days on this earth. We had no medical information for him, other than that he had tested positive for cocaine at birth and that he had been in the hospital for two weeks and in the shelter with his three brothers for two weeks.

We had assumed that we would take care of Caleb until adoptive parents had been selected. Our reasoning had been that we were too old to adopt a baby. I cannot remember the first moment that I knew that he was our child, but it happened very quickly. By the time that my wife and I discussed it, we both knew in our hearts that he was ours.

He had been born into this world with very little chance of success. But things changed for this little boy on that day. Just as he has been blessed with the home that any child deserves, he has blessed his parents beyond measure. Today, Caleb is almost four years old and is thriving.

Related Blogs:

Adoptive Families--Special Days and Family Celebrations Our "Gotcha" Day

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boyer3b (11) 08 Dec 2006 02:59 PM

Ed,

Just finished catching up with your flurry of blogs. They are wonderful. I highly recommend them to all visitors because of their brevity and clarity.

Crickett (272) 08 Dec 2006 09:51 PM

Hi, Would you consider putting another picture or two of the boys on your profile? Thanks!

Fatherofeight (2475) 09 Dec 2006 07:03 AM

Thanks, Crickett, we are in fact working on getting current individual pictures of each boy on the site. Stay tuned, thank you for your patience.

Linda Hansen (1796) 13 Dec 2006 04:57 AM

Ed, I sometimes look at the boys and shudder, wondering where they would be now, if they weren't here. Life was very hard for them before they came here. I am so glad God decided we were the ones to care for them. Art

PATTI (580) 14 Dec 2006 12:07 PM

Dear Ed, Keep the stories coming. It helps those of us who haven't adopted keep up to date on these precious children. I wish God's best to you all. Patti