Congratulations Graduate!

Congratulations, Graduate! Caitlin graduated from High School this last week and we couldn't be more proud of her. We are so appreciative that she invited us to be part of her family this weekend. We spent 7 hours with her and her family at the graduation (before, during and after) and then went to dinner with them. We then went to their home the following day for an open house in celebration of Caitlin's accomplishments. Caitlin is already registered to attend nursing school in Northern California in August. She has always been such a goal oriented young woman and we are excited to see what she accomplishes.

Whenever we visit with Caitlin, I am reminded of when we first met her and when we first decided to adopt. Our case worker asked us if we were open to the concept of an open adoption. Of course, this scared us to death, but we knew this was the most common request so we reluctantly agreed to limited openness. When we first met Caitlin her only request for openness was that she could attend the baby blessing and that we would for the first year send her pictures of the baby on her one year birthday and that she could send a letter. This seemed doable and we agreed. In the month prior to Leah's birth, we got to know Caitlin more and the more we knew her, the more we loved her and the more we enjoyed having her in our lives. Since that day that Caleb came to us as Leah, she has attended Leah's blessing, we have attended her birthday, she has attended Leah's first birthday party and now we have attended her graduation. We know there may be a day where Caitlin will want to move on and we will slowly fade from the picture. We know that she will never forget us or Leah and neither will we forget her. She has become more than the angel that gave us Leah, she has become family and a friend. The interesting thing is, even though this open adoption has been a positive experience, if we ever adopt again, we will be just as fearful of openness the next time as we were the first.

Caitlin was so happy to see us when we arrived. She immediately teared up. So did I, but I blamed it on the sun in my eyes. *Wink* Caitlin thanked us again and again, crediting much of her success and graduation to us for allowing her the opportunity to correct her course and move on with her life. What a great thing it is to be grateful. Gratitude is the among the greatest, if not the greatest, traits an individual may possess.

Nancy, Oma Trudy, Ani, Caitlin and Tom. This family's support for Caitlin is also key to her success. They have raised her to be a responsible and mature person that learns from mistakes and continuously moves towards their goals.

Oma Trudy has given us beautiful gifts to pass to Leah. This visit she gave us a Mother, Father and child set of porcelain unicorns. She is the nicest lady to visit with and you can tell she has a strong and genuine love for her family as well as for us.

Congratulations, Caitlin. We are proud of you and we expect great things from you. Always make good decisions and you will succeed.

Caitlin's Yearbook Photo
Caitlin's JROTC Photo in Yearbook
Caitlin's Diploma
Caitlin's Graduation Photo
Caitlin's Cake

Caitlin's Gift