WE GOT THE CALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WE GOT THE CALL! Today at about 10:00 a.m., we finally got the call we've been waiting, wishing, dreaming, and praying for.

Matthew will be coming home to us this Monday evening, December 14, 2009, at 8:11 p.m. (Dulles Airport).

Today is my telecommute day, so it was just me and Rich, the pest control sales rep, at home when the call came. Jeff was at work. I was hoping that we'd get the call when we were together, but oh well. There's always my buddy Rich. I kept Rich's business card to put in Matthew's lifebook...just for kicks!
Jeff and I were doing an awful lot of cleaning this weekend, and we were both wondering if it wasn't the universe sending us a message (we are, ahem, not known for being very vigilant cleaners)! Plus, we got the tree up (it's naked right now, soon to be decorated as of this evening) and the household decorations up, too. Both of us had a strong feeling that it would be this week. So did our caseworker. So did a colleague of mine at work. A friend of my sister in law's called her yesterday to ask her if we had gotten Matthew yet, because she had dreamed that she adopted a baby boy from Korea! So many signs of life about to change...

I just want to say thanks to everyone who follows this blog, especially to those of you whose lives parallel mine in beautiful, almost eerie, ways. And the new friendships I have formed BECAUSE of this blog! (I never imagined I'd be that blessed!)

It has heartened me to know that people actually want to read what I write. And it has strengthened me so, blogging like this. It has helped me clear my mind, at so many times, and sort things out. It has allowed me exactly the creative outlet I've craved and needed. I'm so glad that I started doing it, and that all of you have been there, many of you right from the beginning (early 2008), reading and cheering from the sidelines.

Today, as I continue to receive countless emails, phone calls, and Facebook comments, all with heart-filled wishes and genuine love, I am feeling the wonderful fellowship that comes with good friendship--and the true lifesaver that it can be.
I am feeling your arms around me (virtual though they may be), and I am feeling "held" by your love and friendship.
I really can feel it (you think I'm kidding but I'm not--it's really hard to explain!).

I was going to end this blog once Matthew came home.
I have changed my mind. It seems that I have a lot more to say, and I want to keep saying it.
And I'd love for you to keep reading it.

Thank you for being there with me on this incredible journey.
Thank you for reading the words of my heart, scrawled right there on my sleeve for all to see.
It has been such a learning experience, such a blessing, such a wild ride.
I have learned that "patience" can indeed be pushed to its limits yet still exist, somehow.
I have seen the definition of the word "friendship" take on a whole new life--
without our friends (and family, of course), we would NOT have gotten through this.
So namaste, I bow to all of you--friends, family, fellow parents alike--I love you with a depth that I can't even begin to describe.

So, thanks for listening, and reading, and being there.
And thanks for coming back, again and again and again.

Here's to the end of one long journey, and the beginning of another.

Here's to Matthew Seong-jin Halverson, finally coming home.