FIRST: THANK YOU for the wonderful comments and cheers!! I've been exchanging comments with many of you for so long that I feel I know you personally and I consider you my friends. It is heartwarming to know that you are sharing in my joy. It was also wonderful to read comments from delurkers. To know that you've been following along with me and are now so touched that you want to send your congratulations - WOW!! And yes, I guess the 18 Month Letter did work and I have some promises to now keep!
So, this is where I tell you how The Call went down. Grab a tea or coffee, it could be a long post. I want to write down as many details as I can because A) you, my dear readers, have asked for it and waited with me, B) there is so much to say, my head is spinning, C) my aging mind is feeble and I don't want to forget a thing--not having a spouse, I need to remember everything myself, D) this post will be part of the blog book I create for Myfanwy, and E) it's fun to finally be able to write this post!!
Funny thing is, as I finally start to write, my stomach and heart are both fluttering about in a rather bizarre fashion. I don't feel nauseous, per se, but I feel weird. How come I feel nervous writing about this most amazing day that I have waited sooo long to document? Was not expecting this.
The morning of Thursday, May 14, 2009:
It was a dark, stormy night...Wait, not true.
It was an overcast, damp, spring morning. The weather has been rather unsettled these last few days--brilliant sunshine turning to rain and even small hail. Just before 11am I ran downstairs to grab my second coffee before The View starts (don't mock me!). While there, reheating my mug in the nuker, I decide to finally phone my brother David and thank him again for the lovely Mother's Day card. As I talk to him I go back upstairs to my "office." Now, as you may know, I work from home. Sometimes my office is on the living room couch, feet up on the ottoman. On this particular day I am sitting up in bed, in my pjs, laptop on my lap. Ah, the joys of telecommuting.
David and I are talking about gardening, BBQs, the card, and the adoption. He asks when I think I'll hear something. I say that I just read that CAFAC only started to look at the 10 new referrals yesterday morning, so I probably won't hear anything until later this week or next week after another long weekend. I tell David when it happens I will call him back and tell him he is an uncle. We laugh. At that time I get a beep indicating call waiting. I check the display but it just says Unknown Name Private Number. Since both Liz's home and AO's office numbers are programmed into the phone, I figure it must be someone else and keep talking. A pause and the line beeps again. I tell David it must be important, might be work, so I better take it. We hang up and I switch to the other line. It is 11:11 am.
Me: Good morning, Hazel speaking [this in my 'professional work voice' ...despite the pajamas].
Liz: Good morning, Hazel, it's Liz calling from Adoption Options.
Me: [pause]
Me: er, Hi Liz.
Liz: I'm just calling to see how you're doing. I haven't talked to you in a while.
Me: [pause. inside voice: Are you freaking kidding me??!! You're calling to see how I'm doing?? Don't you know I'm waiting for The Call from you?? And you're calling to see how I'm doing??? How do you think I'm doing??]
Me:[cooly but less than enthusiastically] ...er, I'm fine thanks.
Liz: It's okay, you can sit down.
Me: Wha?? What... do... you.. mean...?[realization setting in now--could this be it?]
Liz: I have a child proposal for you.
Me: AAAAAAUUUUUGGGGHHHHH!!!! [Fortunately my hand went to my mouth so Liz wasn't assaulted with the full volume of my scream. Actually it wasn't so much of a scream as this deep, guttural, primitive noise. I remember making that noise only one time before--when I found out that my sister Carol had passed away. Strange that.]
Now, the rest of the call is foggy but basically went something like this:
Me: Are you kidding?????
Liz: No, I'm not kidding. She's just a few months old. Can you come to the office this afternoon at one o'clock?
Me: Yes! Can I bring my mom?
Liz: Yes, of course.
Me: Okay, we'll be there.
The big gush of tears wasn't there. I remember wiping my eyes a bit, but I wasn't weeping. I was just in shock. This is cool: Liz's first call went to my voicemail at 11:09 and I have an automatically-sent email with the .wav file recording of her message!
After I hung up, I immediately called Mom at home--got her answering machine - AACK!! She can't be at work (she's retired but works part time at Costco for something to do--she's one of the ladies with food samples that everybody loves so much) today, it's Thursday. That means she could be anywhere. AACK!!
Phone David back:
David: Hello?
Me: You're an uncle.
Considering not 5 minutes ago I had joked that the next time I call him (in a few days at least) I'll be telling him he's an uncle, this became pretty damn funny!
Fortunately, David knew Mom was getting her hair done that morning. I asked him to come with us to see the baby file. He agreed of course (his planned trip to the garden centre now off his day's agenda).
I phoned Mom at Max's salon:
Max: Good morning, Hair by Maxine.
Me: [very calmly] Hi Max. It's Hazel. Is my mom still there?
Max: Hi Hazel. Yes, just a second.
Mom: Hello?
Me: You're a grandmother.
Mom: What??
Me: [rinse and repeat that line a few times until it sinks in. Max, who is a good friend of mine, is howling and screaming for joy in the background.]
Mom had a "quick stop" to make first but would then come to my house. Now, you need to understand that my mother's "quick stops" could mean anything. The often heard and dreaded, "I just have to pop into the Co-Op for something" could take 2 hours. I am mildly annoyed and worried she might hold things up but I hold my tongue. Only good, kind, sweet, positive thoughts allowed today...
I phone my sister, Claire, on her cell up in Beaverlodge:
Claire: Hello, Claire speaking.
Me: You're an auntie.
Claire: What?
Me: You're an auntie.
Claire: What?
Me: You're an auntie.
Claire: What? Say that again. What are you saying?
Me: [WTF is wrong with people??]
She FINALLY gets it. She is standing in line to pay some insurance so she can't scream.
I phone my sister Connie at her business. My nephew, Jason, who works for his mom, answers the phone but I didn't recognize his voice at first):
Jason: Good morning, Five Star Seniors Relocators.
Me: Is Connie there?
Jason: No.
Turns out she's in Victoria for a few days with her man who is visiting from Ontario.
Me: Okay, I'll call her on her cell. By the way, you have a new cousin.
Jason: What?
I swear to God, I have the best family but sometimes they are dense. Sweet, but dense.
I leave a voicemail message for Connie and then for my brother Chuck and sister-in-law Brenda in Prince George.
I leave my boss a voicemail saying there is a "family emergency and I have to leave right away--it's nothing bad, though. Quite good news, in fact." Well, it's true, right? (I haven't told him about the adoption yet). I decline one of my afternoon meetings in Outlook and damn the rest. I log off and shut down my laptop.
I rush about getting dressed and throwing a bit of slap on my face, knowing Historical VIP Pictures will be taken today. I run downstairs and wait for Mom.
And wait. And wait.
I unload the dishwasher to pass the time. I clean up the kitchen counter a bit. I clear some clutter off the ottoman. I pace around downstairs. It's almost 12:30. We are supposed to pick up David by 12:30 on the way to the agency. I grab my coat and shoes and I step outside the front door to watch for Mom's car to come around the corner. It's nice and sunny now. I inspect the plants and flowers growing in my front flower bed. Oh, how pretty. Despite my best intentions, I start to silently curse and rue the fact that I didn't ask Mom to NOT make her "quick stop first."
Oh, there's mother's car coming (rather fast for her, I might add) around the corner. She vaguely pulls in somewhere in the vicinity of the front of my house. Now, there is A TON of parking space, but Mom can't park to save her life, God love her. She turns off the engine. I run around to the driver's door and ask her to hand me the keys. I park her car in ONE parking spot, IN FRONT of MY house, in a STRAIGHT LINE parallel with the curb.
I tell her we're taking my Jeep and we boot it off to pick up David.
Phew. Okay, that's enough for this post: Next up: "Meeting Myfanwy."
