Readoption

As of right now, Georgia is a permanent resident of the United States... because she entered the country on an I-4 visa. If both Royce and I had traveled, she would have become a citizen at the first US port of entry.

So we have to readopt her. Some people choose to use an attorney, but its also possible to file the petition yoursself...which is the route we are going. Our first step was to contact our county courthouse and speak to the clerk in charge of filing adoption petitions. She sent us a memorandum detailing what was necessary for an adoption in Maryland. Some of it applied to us, some of it didn't...(because we weren't adopting so much as re-adopting...confirming the adoption that took place in China. We already had most of the documents from our original paperchase and documents given to us in China.

The tough thing was the wording of the adoption petition itself. There were no examples to look at..all we had to go on was from the memorandum: "petitions for adoption are governed by the provisions of Family Law Article 5-3A-01 et seq. and 5-3B-01 et seq and shall be filed in accordance with the provisions of rule 9-103 and shall contain the information required therein." <- clear as mud? Well, it does give specific citations to Maryland's family Law articles and from the Maryland Rules...both of which can be found at your local library. (Said the librarian) :) Librarian's aren't allowed to give legal advice: forms, etc..but they can help you find the references to read.

Anyways, what I was lamenting was a lack of examples... now since we only JUST filed the petition today, I can't say our format was correct...although I think and hope it was!! What I might do later, to help those that follow is post (omitting details) in general how I wrote our petition.

A Visit to Grammy's

"Grammy" was what we always called my own great-grandmother, whom I was fortunate enough to know and remember. (I was a teenager when she passed away at age 99.)

Thomas calls my mom "Boo-boo" (long story on that name), and Royce's mother, "Grandma"...and my grandma (his great-grandma) "Grammy".



She is a lovely, lovely woman...even though she herself would scoff at my saying so. And while I truly loved all my grandparents, I can with total honesty say that she was always my favorite, the one I felt closest to. (and not just because she is my only surviving grandparent.) What a shame that Alzheimers is slowly robbing her of the bits that make her herself...her memories.

But today was a good day. She remembered me (or seemed to), and was thrilled to see my son Thomas.



And also thrilled to meet her newest great-grandchild from half a world away.



So often, I've heard stories of people in my parents generation...nevermind Grammy's generation who just don't "get" adoption, and some who display blatant (and in my mind unreasonable) favoritism to those grandchildren (or great-grandchildren) that they are genetically related to.

Not my family! From Grammy on, everyone has been so accepting and welcoming of Georgia. So willing to love her. Granted, I know she's quite loveable... but this natural acceptance and love....to me, that's the true miracle of adoption.