Liam's 4th Gotcha Day

Gotcha Days are just as important as birthdays in our family. It is the day that I was able to take each of my adopted children out of their orphanage/institution, for good. In a way, it's a day that represents their birth into our family. On their birthday, they were born into a family. For reasons not fully known in most cases, the children lost their families, and were put into an orphanage or abandon at the hospital after their birth. For my children, they were given up, by their birth mother because they were born with Down syndrome. Countries in Eastern Europe and many other places of the world, do not accept disabled people. They hide them away in orphanages and institutions where they lack medical care, good nutrition, much needed therapies, love and attention, and most will likely die, before they reach adulthood. My boys were the lucky ones. They were adopted.  Most often though , if you are an orphan and you are disabled, there really is no hope for you to be adopted. There are over 150 million orphans in the world. That number overwhelms me. :(
So yesterday, was Liam's 4th anniversary of his Gotcha Day. I remember that day so well. The staff at the institution were in awe or shock, that someone had actually traveled so far, spent thousands of dollars....to adopt a child, that would never be able to live on his own. And I say that, because Liam is very delayed. But, I knew when I saw him for the first time, that I could not leave him there. Just by the reaction of the staff at the institution, I know he meant little to them. To them, he was a throwaway child. He was malnourished, and his teeth and gums were in a horrible condition, because they didn't bother to even brush them. He was so hungry for love too. He crawled right up on my lap and didn't want to do anything but sit there and lean against me. He needed me. I needed him. (More than I even thought.) It is a magical feeling, almost miraculous feeling, that I receive from taking care of him and loving him. It is the most rewarding thing I have ever done in my life. Adopting a child, that most considered not worthy. But God, knows what they are worth. And I am so thankful, that He thinks, I am worthy enough to be their Mama. It's an honor and a blessing that I don't take lightly. Liam, you are loved more than you will ever know. Thank you my little guy, for making me a very happy Mama.