Miraculous

Toby and I attended the long-awaited meeting with the DHS Current Caretaker Committee this morning.  The unbiased, impersonal and judgmental group that we expected was anything but.   They were extremely caring and they had a strong bias......for Angie's quality of life.  The entire experience was nothing I had pictured when I played scenarios out in my head 1000 times in recent days.

Toby surprised me by being the one who described Angie and the fact that we often "forget" her special needs because there are so many other special things about Angie.  He spoke of our devotion to Angie and the huge number of people she has touched with her engaging spirit.  He told them about her sense of humor and her drive to keep up with peers. I was so proud.  To be perfectly honest, he did most of the talking because I was busy crying.  Impressive, I know, but has been a long ride and it just caught up with me.

I was overwhelmed by the compassion of the committee.  The facilitator was working in our local DHS office when Angie's battle began  and she knew the length and depth of our journey.  She was thankful to be involved in a story that she called MIRACULOUS at least 5 times.  She said she knew no other word to describe it and of course we agreed.  She boldly expressed her surprise that Angie is living today.  I have not come out and said it in so many words, but her situation was just that dire.

There were hard questions.  Who will care for Angie's needs if something were to happen to you?  How will you support your other children if Angie's condition deteriorates or, God forbid, shortens her life?  Are you aware of the risks?  We could only answer honestly (I had recovered my composure by then) that our children have been with us through uncertain, terrifying periods with Angie already.  We have shared information about her condition and have addressed their questions and their fears along the way.  Most heartwarming has been to watch the kids support each other when Angie has been in the hospital.   No amount of risk can deter us from making this child fully our own.  And we have a plan for all of our children in the event of our early death and she will be included.

We left the meeting feeling encouraged by having heard once again how Angie has touched lives that we did not even know about.  I never get tired of hearing it. It is one of my favorite things about her miracle-the far-reaching impact it has had.  We don't know the final outcome or the decision the committee will make.  As we left the office, though, we could not imagine that the outcome will be anything but adoption for Angie.