whew.  after a rollercoaster ride of emotions all weekend, we’re back home, safe and sound.   on our second San Antonio day, we met 7 people who had worked with our agency in one capacity or another.  Most were birthmothers, but there was also a birth grandmother, a birth father and an adoptive parent and her baby.  As they each told their stories with heart-rending honesty, I think we all gained a deeper understanding of the emotions that birthparents go through–and not just in the few days after their baby is born, but for a very long time afterwards (probably forever, but no one on the panel had had their baby more than 3 years ago).  Some of their stories were absolutely incredible.

We shared lunch with them (yum, brisket!) and after lunch, they went home and we stayed to listen to some discussions of legal stuff, money stuff, and then did some role-playing.  just for fun, there was a crossword “contest” with some of the legal terms and, J and I being eldest siblings and therefore competitive, we won!  our prize was a package of onesies and my first reaction was, “great!  now i’ve got a shower gift for the next baby shower and don’t have to go shopping!”  and my second reaction was, “oh wait.  these are for our baby.”  wow.  it has been a long a bumpy road and i know the bumps aren’t over yet, but at least i believe that we are now on the right road and we will get there.  sometime.

we ended the day with dinner at the Alamo Cafe where the agency staff plied us with margaritas (even I drank one!), Mexican food, fresh tortillas and bowls of queso.  Then it was back to the hotel for some late-night chatting with our new friends and then hugs and goodbyes.  Who knows when/if we’ll ever meet again in person?  And when we do… will we all have kids in tow?

For now, it’s back to real life and one more big push of paperwork.