This little fella (gal? any experts out there? for convenience I will just refer to the little fella as "he"... but really ... I don't know!) made his way to our front yard one day last summer, and chose to hover just above one of our small flowering trees, observing the world (I suppose) for awhile. I spotted him as I trekked to the mailbox for the daily deluge of bills and offers for "THE AMAZING THIS OR THAT."
Being the artsy type, I ran back into the house to grab my camera. Honestly though, it was a dragonfly ... I didn't really expect him to be there when I got back ... especially since Turtle and Fish were running around the yard right at that moment, in rather raucous fashion, playing some game or other. None-the-less, he was still there ... waiting as it were for a shot at internet glory one can only presume ... in the very spot I left him, and graciously hovered while I snapped innumerable pictures, trying to get that "GREAT SHOT." And then ... as if on cue, he left, going on to places unknown to me, never to be seen again. He was so gracious, how could I not publish his likeness on the internet, for the world to see?! I hope he is pleased with the result! I wonder if Dragonflies use the internet much?
Okay but anyway ... You can probably guess that even considering the debt of gratitude I owe this fella, he is not the dragonfly to whom I refer in the title. Some of you who read this will know to whom I am referring, even though you've never met us! Yes? No? Do the words "July Dragonflies" mean anything to any of you??? I thought so!! For those of you getting impatient with me ... July Dragonflies refers to a group of children in China, waiting even now, as I speak, for their new adoptive parents to come and take them home ... parents whose paperwork for their adoptions was logged in at the China Center of Adoption Affairs (known by those of us in the adoption game by its shortened name "CCAA") any time in July, 2005.
Thats right ... Father Monkey and I are "expecting" ... a little bundle of pink joy ... our DRAGONFLY ... from China ... a new sister for Hoppy Toad, Turtle and Fish!! We had thought the kid thing was over ... you know ... 3 kids is plenty ... family complete, and all that rubbish ... but then our good friends down the path decided they just "had" to have another baby! They have a wonderful son, theirs in the usual way, but for this second edition, they decided to adopt ... a beautiful little girl from Romania! Well ... okay I admit it ... its my fault ... I took one look at the first baby picture my friend received of her new daughter, and wanted one of my own!! I thought: "3 boys are great ... but adding a girl to the mix would be even better!" Well ... Father Monkey didn't quite agree at first ... actually said flat out "no, don't even think of it!"
Sigh. Our 3 boys were all planned and all mutually wanted. I knew if Father Monkey said no ... this was the end of my pipe dream. Or so I thought. I did not mention another word, but 2 years later, Father Monkey surprised me one day when he announced that he was "ready to adopt his little girl ... did I still want to?" I jumped up and down with excitement ... enough of an answer I guess ... but I said "You bet!" anyway. And with that, we embarked on our Adoption Journey to bring our Dragonfly home ... 3 long long long years ago!
Its a long process ... but our journey has been longer than most unfortunately. Not long after this decision was made, catastrophe struck our extended family with the unexpected death of my twin brother. We had been very close, and he was a truly beloved uncle to my sons ... so the shockwaves that went through even our little group of wildlife here in Florida ... the 5 of us ... were so resounding that we could not even begin the adoption paperwork for about a year thereafter! And then, there were a few bureaucratic delays ... lost forms (by government offices supposedly filling them out for us), uncooperative "public servants" (gave new meaning to that term, I assure you!), and so on. Finally, there apparently was a rush of folks hoping for their own little Dragonflies. At about the time we submitted our paperwork, finally stamped, approved, signed, notarized etc. etc. etc., there was a greatly increased number of applications in general, submitted to the CCAA. And so, our LID (Log-In-Date / the date our application was logged in at the CCAA) was July 26, 2005. We've been waiting our turn, ever since, to get that all-exciting telephone call telling us we have been matched with a waiting child, and a still more important piece of mail, containing photographs and information!
As I understand it, the CCAA issues a batch of "referrals" (match of children with parents) once a month, towards the end of the month. The June referral batch covered application LID's through June 28, 2005. And so, we are inching ever closer! We can actually see that light at the end of our tunnel now ... and the excitement is building day by day in our household!
Finally 6-10 weeks after receipt of our referrel, we expect to travel to China and bring our Dragonfly Home at L O N G last! She has only to hover just a bit longer!!
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