It's Tough Meeting Family!

My daughter has dipped her toe into the vast ocean of her birth relatives. It's a scary sail! The tides of uncertainty pull her under. The currents of truth and falsehoods are murky and difficult to navigate. Emotions are tossed high upon the crests of waves and then pummeled into oblivion by simple misunderstandings. Her elation is still there, but there is a hint of caution in her voice as well.

When a family has been disrupted through neglect and the need for foster care and adoption, there is a lot of reckoning to do at reunification. Forgiveness is noble, but never reckless. There are reasons for the events in her past and they are being laid painfully bare for her now. It is an intense time for her of questioning, evaluating, and healing.

I am especially thankful for two people at this time, one of my daughter's older biological brothers and her older biological sister. Just as they had cared for her physical needs when she was a baby, they have now come alongside her to protect her emotional well-being as well. They are truly special people and we are blessed to have met them.

There is a romantic side of reunification the media loves to portray. There is also the reality, which is often tougher than it looks, but is, in the end, well worth the effort.