November 18 Becoming a Family

 One November evening David was sitting on the front porch and noticed a particularly bright star in the night sky.  He came in and said that he thought our daughter was born that night. That star became Lily’s star, and we looked for it in the evening sky.  In the spring, I finally got word that China had matched us with a child. Melody, our facilitator, said that she only knew the child’s name and date of birth, November 18.  That was the day David had seen the star. I said that I had all the information I needed. She was our baby. I held Lily in my arms for the first time, crying tears of joy and happiness and gratitude. 

Two years later, on November 18, we welcomed our second daughter, Carrie into our family.  We were in Kazakhstan, and when I looked out the window of our hotel room, the first star I saw when I looked up was Lily’s star.  It made me smile. We journeyed half way around the world twice to find our daughters. I have come to believe in miracles. Lily and Carrie are my miracles of love and happiness.  I am always so grateful that we all found a way into each other’s lives because we are family. I know that we were meant to be together.